Analysis: events like Breaking the Silence show the creative potential of the arts in relation to justice for victim-survivors of institutional abuse in Ireland
There is a call to acknowledge the lived experiences of those who were, and still are, subject to the trauma of institutional abuse in Ireland. This memorialisation can help survivors achieve a sense of justice through visibility, acknowledgement and recognition.
Participatory arts-based memorialisation could help to achieve these senses of justice. Tomorrow night, Breaking the Silence will be streamed from Dublin's National Concert Hall. Curated by Caelainn Hogan, author of Republic of Shame and presented by the International Literature Festival Dublin, the free event is billed as an evening of creative responses to Ireland’s Mother and Baby Home Institutions. It will feature work from such musicians and artists as Elaine Feeney, Loah, Terri Harrison, The Mary Wallopers, Majella Moynihan, Noelle Brown, Phil Mullen, Jess Kav, Alison Lowry, Christy Moore and Peter Mulryan.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Weekend show, 2019 interview with Caelainn Hogan about her book Republic of Shame
Importantly, this event incorporates the experiences and responses of victim-survivors. Writing on the event, the organisers explain that survivors of Ireland's religious-run institutions have become "catalysts of change" through "breaking silences and sharing testimonies" and their voices must continue to be heard "in the search for answers". Robert Read, CEO of the National Concert Hall has said "this event - which presents an array of artistic responses from survivors, artists and writers - will create a platform for reflection and healing that helps us to shape a path forward."
Bearing these goals in mind, it is timely to reflect upon the capacity of the arts to be understood as a justice process that may help victim-survivors achieve a sense of justice through active participation. Justice for victim-survivors of abuse is complex, with many different meanings, and so does not purely amount to the conventional concept of justice as prosecutions.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Sunday With Miriam, interview with Noelle Brown, survivor of the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home
To use the term and concept created by Professor Clare McGlynn and Professor Nicole Westmarland, justice is kaleidoscopic. McGlynn and Westmarland highlight diverse justice interests such as dignity, voice, and connectedness. It is important to note that there are some discussions as to what a justice interest means but, for the purpose of this piece, a justice interest means something that a victim-survivor obtains from engaging with a justice process that may help in positively dealing with their experience.
The theory of kaleidoscopic justice can be seen when considering Dr Maeve O'Rourke’s submission to the United Nations. In the submission, O'Rourke highlights that victim-survivors of institutional abuse in Ireland have been denied conventional justice in that prosecutions are almost 'non-existent’. This indicates that there is a desire for victim-survivors of institutional abuse in Ireland to obtain a sense of justice through court systems that is not being met.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, Dr Maeve O'Rourke on appeals made by Gardaí to anyone who was the victim of a criminal act in a mother-and-baby home to contact them
It is also apparent within O’Rourke’s report that justice interests extend beyond prosecutions. This multiplicity of justice interests is also evidenced in Barbara Walshe’s and Catherine O’Connell’s consultation with survivors, a study that directly engaged with victim-survivors of institutional abuse.
Within both publications, there arises two justice interests relevant to the Breaking the Silence event: voice and visibility. Speaking on the importance of survivors' voices in their report, Walshe and O’Connell state that they ‘heard again and again about the importance of ‘voice’, ‘their voice’ in being heard and understood by ‘those in authority’ and the public. Being heard means being seen, acknowledged and needs being attended to.’
Visibility and recognition are linked to this sentiment of voice and acknowledgement. In their report, Walshe and O'Connell highlight that victim-survivors have expressed a desire for memorials to acknowledge and commemorate those who were institutionalised, and those affected trans-generationally. Adrienne Reilly explains that memorialisation can include 'architectural memorials, museums, dedicated sites of conscience, commemorative events, annual events, documentaries, [and] art installations’. The issue of memorialisation is raised in O'Rourke’s submission and indeed in the Recommendations of the Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, RTÉ Social Affairs and Religion Correspondent Ailbhe Conneely on the origins of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes
The issue of memorialising institutional abuse in Ireland has received a mixed reaction from survivors, as noted in Walshe and O'Connell’s report, and also in Professor Patricia Lundy’s report. However, the value of memorials was also raised in Lundy's study as it was explained that memorials can provide a sense of acknowledgement, voice, visibility, and recognition.
Research on the role of creative arts points to participatory arts practice as a justice process, developing the concept of justice through expression. Engaging victim-survivors of institutional abuse in arts processes to memorialise their experiences can arguably act as a justice process as victim-survivors may achieve justice interests such as voice, visibility, acknowledgement, and recognition.
Dr James Gallen has emphasised that conventional justice mechanisms for victim-survivors have failed to meaningfully empower or support their "voices, participation, and ownership in shaping how Ireland addresses its historical abuses." Participatory arts practice, grounded in acknowledging lived experiences, and involving those who have been impacted by institutional abuse, could be a profound way in which survivors become empowered and supported, and potentially achieve a sense of justice.
Events like Breaking the Silence can be regarded as both a memorial event and a justice process. They bring together those impacted by Ireland’s legacy of institutional abuse and empower victim-survivors to voice, and creatively express, their experiences among other survivors and to a wider audience. This can raise awareness and visibility, educating people on the issue of historical abuse in Ireland, thus bringing further recognition and acknowledgement of the abuse suffered in and after Ireland’s institutions. Funding for participatory arts research, practice, and memorialisation, with survivors front and centre, could help to develop and achieve the justice interests of those affected by institutional abuse.
"The institutions have to be permanently reminded", said a male survivor of institutional abuse on the importance of memorials. "This society has to be permanently reminded of its failings. Most of the people responsible for the institutions are dead. But there are children who will ask the question, what’s that about? And somebody will have to say, this is a legacy that the state failed."
Breaking the Silence will be available on various platforms on Saturday May 29th from 8pm
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
