In 2023, the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Amanda Dunsmore created a unique iteration of AGREEMENT, which journeyed into communities across Northern Ireland. AGREEMENT was launched as a 3-screen (3 x 4 metre), LED modular monitor presentation, at Ulster University, Belfast. This 3-screen configuration was unique to the GFA/25 community tour, creating a physical and conceptual central space for civic reflection. Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
In 2024, the Mitchell Art Gallery hosted a online conversation with Bryonie and Gemma of quarto collective who discuss AGREEMENT in the context of colonial legacies. Diverse communities were invited to explore the meaning of the Good Friday Agreement, and agreement more broadly, and to host the artwork in a location of their choice. Bryonie and Gemma of quarto, who designed and facilitated the community engagement process, explore the context for and outcomes of that process and the role that art can play in divided societies.
The 3-screen artwork was hosted by: The Women of Clonduff and Rathfriland Regeneration, Rathfriland, 8 - 9th June; The Community Relations Forum, Glengormley, 5 - 6 September; IgnYte Young Leaders, aged 25 and under Derry - Londonderry, 13th - 14th October; Omagh Pride, LGBTQIA+ community group, Omagh, 18th - 19th November; ImageNation, Indian Community, Belfast, 25th - 26th November, 2023.
The artwork, beyond the physical objects of the screens, is the process by which quarto and the artist Amanda and all of us engage with those communities...the very act and artistic and political choice, to want to host it, without any sense of tension. Cian Smyth, Cultural Producer, Ulster Presents.
It's been fascinating just watching people as they come into the space and there are a myriad of different reactions...there have been some very, very deeply emotional and impactful individual experiences. Gemma Reid, quarto collective, 2023.