Sophia Unveiled – Blog Discussion thread

Thank you all who came to my live audio yesterday! As promised, since we got on to the subject of history re my work as a historian, I wanted to share the moving work of the artist I mentioned re the mother and baby homes; a horror that was allowed to happen for ver 200 years and which affected over 10,000 women and their children.

A bit of a grim subject but I touched on this yesterday re women having a tough time when it comes to relationships and also with regard to emotions and experience being deeply effective to engage publics with history. It is why I am also sharing a blog that includes history, not just wellbeing and spirituality or psychology and symbolism as I am mentioning important topics which should trigger some of you and make you think. The aim being to help us remember the things that really matter in life and also forgotten ways that can make our lives better.

DRESSING OUR HIDDEN TRUTHS – ALISON LOWRY

One of the most effective ways historians can engage with publics is through emotions and I hope to have touched some of you yesterday who came to my talk on Ireland’s most haunted house, Loftus Hall. The true story behind the popular centuries’ old tale being much more haunting but also in many forms, a “dressing of hidden truths” and a terrible injustice but also relevant to the horrors of the Magdalene laundries and fates of children and their mothers who became pregnant out of wedlock.

This is why I must share with you all today the work by Alison Lowry which truly provoked a deeply emotional response in me to the point of making me cry. I still have tears in my eyes as I write this, as some of the topics she addresses hit very close to home, being a survivor of domestic violence and a single mother who has raised a son alone and felt the stigma. It is estimated that around 10,000 women went through these mother and baby homes during a period of just over 200 years where many of their children born of sin were not just taken away but simply murdered. Alison Lowry speaks out through her creative work in defence of these voiceless souls who still have not seen justice and who must be remembered, for this I need to share her work, but I do caution you, that the Christening robes…will stir up all sorts of emotions and at the very least, make you extremely uncomfortable though they are beautiful. Lowry’s work is outstanding from a creative but also historical point of view.

Alison Lowry is a rather unique artist in the European context in her commentary through the medium of glass on such discomforting topics as child abuse and domestic violence. The video and link below in the comments features her exhibition “Dressing Our Hidden Truths” divided into four distinct areas – installation of suspended sand-cast pâte de verre christening robes, sculptural works responding to the theme of the Magdalene Laundries, a video piece made with performance artist Jayne Cherry and a suit of armour using glass and leather created with the internationally renowned designer Úna Burke.

Amongst the exhibition’s highlights is an installation of nine christening robes in pâte de verre (glass paste) spread across two rooms – a profound piece of commentary on the Tuam Mother and Baby Home revelations. Other elements of the exhibition include audio testimony by way of poetry and song from those who experienced the industrial school system and Magdalene Laundries.
Please take a moment today as a sign of respect for the souls of the children and women being remembered here, may they rest in peace.