January 2002
Every atrocity must have its images, otherwise the world does not respond. Atrocities without photographs tend to be forgotten in our image-dominated reality the photographers role remains crucial in making sure we bear witness. Trisha Ziff, Curator of Hidden Truths
Hidden Truths: Bloody Sunday 1972 probes one of the great tragedies of recent Irish-Anglo history, the shooting of Irish civil rights protestors by British soldiers in Derry, Northern Ireland on Sunday, January 30, 1972. On view at the International Center of Photography, 1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street from January 11 through March 17, 2002, this powerful exhibition addresses both the incident itself as well as the role of photography as witness within our culture.
THIRTY years ago, British soldiers opened fire on a peaceful protest march, killing thirteen civilians. The events of that day, which became known as "Bloody Sunday," are a watershed in Irish politics since they transformed what was an optimistic civil rights movement into an armed insurgency. But Bloody Sunday was not just another demonstration that went wrong. In terms of the history of documentary photography and photojournalism, it is one of the most photographed events of its time. This exhibition focuses on the way that eighteen different photographers recorded that day from a variety of perspectives, including the work of visiting international photojournalists, local amateur picture takers, and frightened residents.
The images made on Bloody Sunday recorded the events of that day, but did nothing to change the numbers of dead and injured or to alter the political fallout. Even the tremendous international press coverage of Bloody Sunday, examples of which appear in the exhibition and the subsequent British governmental inquiry tended to affirm the status quo. This exhibition looks pointedly at the extent to which political leaders and the media can determine the reading of an event through strategic uses of photography.
Hidden Truths is unique in bringing together public and the personal views of Bloody Sunday. Curator Trisha Ziff has gathered both classic media images of the events, by such photographers as Fulvio Grimaldi, Gilles Peress, Robert White, and Fred Hoare, as well as personal photographs from the families of those who were killed that day. The exhibition also includes a virtual recreation of the Bogside in Derry, where the events of Bloody Sunday took place. Bringing together published and unpublished photographs, artifacts, sound, and film, the exhibition provides a full documentation of the dramatic events, which remain topical to this day.
Bloody Sunday is unfinished business. After an initial inquiry in 1972, the British government issued the Widgery Report, which acquitted the British soldiers of all responsibility in the killings. In 1998, as a result of twenty-six years of campaigning by the relatives of those killed for a new inquiry, British Prime Minister Tony Blair ordered the case reopened, the first time that has happened in English history. That new inquiry is now in its fourth year; many of the images in this exhibition are currently being used as testimony.
Hidden Truths: Bloody Sunday 1972, curated by Trisha Ziff, is organized and circulated by Elaine Brotherton in association with the Bloody Sunday Trust in association, Global Exchange, Track 16 Gallery, Santa Monica, and the Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City.
Publication: Hidden Truths: Bloody Sunday 1972, edited by Trisha Ziff, Smart Art Press, Santa Monica, CA, 1998, 200 pp.
Public Programs:
In association with the ICP exhibition Hidden Truths: Bloody Sunday 1972, Glucksman Ireland House at New York University will present a panel discussion on the theme Bloody Sunday 1972-2002: Event, Image and Memory. It will be held at Ireland House, 1 Washington Mews, on Thursday, February 7th at 7pm. For further information, please call 212 998 3950.