A presentation by renowned American visual artist Suzanne Lacy entitled Across and In-Between on the Border is now being showcased at the Ulster Museum and features participants from Fermanagh.

Created in collaboration with communities from both sides of the Border, Across and In-Between explores the profound impact the Border has on the lives of people who live there. The project is in two parts, The Yellow Line and the Border People’s Parliament, deeply engaging Border communities and over 300 residents in collaboration to create an artwork that stirs public conversation.

A three screen film projection, The Yellow Line, was made with participants including farmers, horse-owners, scouts, hikers and villagers from communities across the Fermanagh, Donegal, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan Border-line. It will be projected upon the front of the Ulster Museum building each evening from 6pm to 9pm over the six day run, supported by a temporary exhibition featuring documentary interviews.

Highlighting the wit and cleverness of Border life in the face of political pressures, this participatory artwork focuses on the power of play in creatively responding to complex issues.

Suzanne Lacy commented: “Our project draws those who live along the often-invisible boundaries between countries into a conversation—metaphoric and literal – on personal and symbolic meanings of this Border and by extension all such borders drawn by political forces. The artwork explores inverse paradigms: visible and invisible, official and unofficial, rural and urban, the real Border and imagined ones. For a brief time, we suggest there is a unique in-between identity for those situated between two countries – a Border people – and through playful acts we explore this liminal identity.”

The second part of the project will see participants in The Yellow Line invited to a private event in Stormont’s Parliament Buildings during Belfast International Arts Festival. They will celebrate their involvement in making The Yellow Line and be part of the project’s final performance: a Border people’s parliament, a space where border voices can consider matters of global political significance that are also, to them, intensely local,” she said.