The Linen Memorial
This project came about as a vision Dr. Lycia Trouton had–a personal installation on the subject of ‘mending’ and a felt idea of a new way to hold and process grief. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland during ‘the troubles.’ Trouton was impacted by that period of recent history and experienced the loss of 7 of her family friends.
The Linen Memorial
Originally named, The Irish Linen Memorial, this creative project has now spanned almost 20 years. It has travelled to multiple countries, been constructed in churches, galleries and world-renowned libraries. This is an ongoing site‐conscious memorial which seeks to re‐narrate the almost 4,000 deaths which took place during the fraught period of ‘the troubles’ in Northern Ireland.
The Troubles is a piece of history many wish to forget.
However, “the dead, far from being gone, remain as a powerful part of the community. How we think about the dead, and the stories we tell about the relationship between the dead and the living, are central to imagining new forms of community and narratives of nationhood…” (Anderson 1983: 15)
It is this exploration of grief and transformation that the renamed, Linen Memorial, continues to explore as it evolves with global audiences at an international level.
The original modest, yet moving, piece was begun by Dr. Trouton through an artist-residency at the Gunnery studios in Woolloomooloo, Sydney, in 2002.
It was launched as an intimate, yet public, monument to ‘the troubles.’ It was quickly expanded upon in 2004, with the invitation of fellow artists to dialogue with the work, producing a dance‐theatre performance and a seven‐channel sonic‐surround original music composition. In 2005, new media components were added as a part of the installation.
Eventually, The Linen Memorial matured into what it is today, a hybrid, counter-monument and travelling memorial.
As this, it is grounded equally in contemporary sculpture and funerary textile. It engages viewers with references to temporal-spatial engagement, feminist theory and historical art as it relates, informs and reflects our human experience and material culture.
400 white Irish linen
handkerchiefs compose the LM.
Linen is the choice of textile for this project as Northern Island has had a long-standing connection and interdependence with Linen manufacturing. As linen has been used for centuries to shroud the dead, it highlights an emphasis upon the body and the private rituals of grief, mourning and reparation.
The chronological list of the deceased (officially called the Names List) follows scholarly research documenting each person who died as a result of the Troubles from the award-winning book, Lost Lives, by David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney, Chris Thornton and David McVea, 1999.
Since 2001, visitors to the memorial have related stories about those killed; stories which The Linen Memorial has begun to archive.
Dr. Lycia Trouton would like to express her gratitude to the over 50 craftspersons from small towns around the world that dedicated great time and patience to the hand sewing of this memorial over the years.