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Raymond P Watson (Born in 1958) is a visual artist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He lives and works in
Raymond P Watson (Born in 1958) is a visual artist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He lives and works in Cushendall
Cushendall (), formerly known as Newtownglens, is a coastal village and townland (of 153 acres) in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located in the historic barony of Glenarm Lower and the civil parish of Layd, and is part of Causeway Coas ...
, in the Glens of Antrim
The Glens of Antrim,Logainm.ie
(
'The Hands of History +20'
to mark the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, a
Victoria Gallery and Museum
Liverpool. This exhibition was hosted by the Institute of Irish Studies (University of Liverpool) and curated b
(Belfast). For this exhibition he updated and created the Hands of History+20. Another 20 Hands were cast and added to the original sculpture. These new hands were of many VIPs and negotiators that were involved in the implementation of the Good Friday (peace) Agreement during those 20 crucial years. Amongst those cast were Tony Blair British PM, Bertie Ahern Irish PM, Lord Chris Patten and Sen. George Mitchell US Peace Envoy, and many others. For The Hands of History+20. Watson also created a number of new cutting edge installations. 'The Grappling Hook' - Watson brought an original Grappling Hook (secretly made almost 50 years earlier by prisoner planning to escape from Long Kesh Prison) to the Belfast Peace Wall, tied a rope to the Hook and scaled the wall to escape to the other side. A second unique installation titled 'The Keys', was created by displaying hundreds of keys from Belfast Crumlin Road Prison alongside an evocative sound piece that was created by using the keys as 'musical instruments'. Later this sound piece was developed into a soundscape experience and Watson released it in the form a vinyl album.
File:Raymond Watson Hands of History - Liverpool Installation.jpg, 1
File:Hands of History close up.jpg, 2
File:Raymond Watson Artist - The Hands of History.jpg, 3
File:Raymond Watson with The Hands of History.jpg, 4
In 2011, Watson visited the Himalayas and was inspired by the positive motivations and intentions of those who created flew Tibetan Prayer Flags. He subsequently started a project to create the largest public art installation ever seen in Belfast. The Belfast Flags of Hope project was an installation of more than 10,000 art pieces created by communities across Belfast and other places. The Belfast Flags were installed along the ‘Belfast Peacewall’ and were a symbol of inclusive flag flying The project was in memory of murdered school boy Thomas Devlin and attended by Baroness May Blood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW-y2ar_Znw
In 2015 he exhibited artwork commemorating the discovery of one of Ireland's national treasures - The Broighter Boat, at the 'Towards Broighter' Exhibition in Limavady. Most recently he presented in the Artisann Gallery an exhibition that focused on the life and poetry of Seamus Heaney.
In 2017 he wrote a book, title, ''Ireland versus Israel''. This was published by Bill Drummond's publishing project Penkilnburn. In 2014 he produced a book on his artwork, titled: ''The Cell Was my Canvas'' In 2016 ''The Cell Was my Canvas'' was updated and translated into German, it is now available on line as an ebook.
In 2010 the book ''Belfast Flags of Hope'' was published jointly by Raymond Watson and supported by the Thomas Devlin Fund.The Belfast Flags of Hope
An example of creative flag flying in Belfast. This publication outlined the process of an earlier phase of Flags of Hope project.
(
University of Ulster
sco, Ulstèr Universitie
, image = Ulster University coat of arms.png
, caption =
, motto_lang =
, mottoeng =
, latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae
, established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...
, obtaining a BA hons
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
., and Master of Philosophy
The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...
. He has worked as a Media Studies lecturer at the Belfast Metropolitan College
Belfast Metropolitan College, also known as ''Belfast Met'', is a further and higher education institution in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The college offers both vocational education and academic qualifications. With over 37,000 enrolments and ...
, and worked as a group editor with a local publishing house for a number of years. He has produced artwork since the early 1990s and in 1999 stopped all other work to dedicate his energy to creating art. He has a substantial body of work influenced heavily by the recent political conflict in Northern Ireland. He is an eclectic artist who creates work in any media, commonly bronze, wood, clay, metals, paints cement, audio visual installations and most recently has produced a number of highly original soundscapes.
Exhibitions
Since the 90s Watson has had many exhibitions across Ireland and in England, New York and Spain. He has contributed to joint exhibitions in many other countries. A notable piece of his art is the Hands of History sculpture. For this sculpture he managed to cast in bronze the hands of the political leaders who negotiated theGood Friday Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
(Belfast Peace Agreement). Those cast are: David Trimble
William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, (15 October 1944 – 25 July 2022) was a British politician who was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002, and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1995 to 2005. He was ...
, Ulster Unionist Party, Gerry Adams
Gerard Adams ( ga, Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020 ...
Sinn Féin, John Hume
John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the recent political history of Ireland, as one of the architects of the Northern Irela ...
Social Democratic Labour Party, Malachy Curran N.I.Labour Party, Monica McWilliams
Monica Mary McWilliams (born 28 April 1954) is a Northern Irish academic, peace activist, human rights defender and former politician in Northern Ireland.
In 1996, she co-founded the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition (NIWC) political party ...
N.I. Women's Coalition, David Irvin Progressive Unionist Party, Gary McMicheal Ulster Democratic Party, Seán Neeson
Seán Neeson (born 9 February 1946) is a politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland between 1998 and 2001, and a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Antrim from 1998 to 201 ...
Alliance Party. The British Government is represented by Mo Mowlam
Dr Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam (18 September 1949 – 19 August 2005) was a British Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Redcar from 1987 to 2001 and served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Minis ...
the then Secretary of State. This sculpture is a unique historical record of the aspirations of the Agreement, designed to create a blueprint for a better future in between all conflicted parties in Ireland.
In March 2018 Raymond held an exhibition title'The Hands of History +20'
to mark the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, a
Victoria Gallery and Museum
Liverpool. This exhibition was hosted by the Institute of Irish Studies (University of Liverpool) and curated b
(Belfast). For this exhibition he updated and created the Hands of History+20. Another 20 Hands were cast and added to the original sculpture. These new hands were of many VIPs and negotiators that were involved in the implementation of the Good Friday (peace) Agreement during those 20 crucial years. Amongst those cast were Tony Blair British PM, Bertie Ahern Irish PM, Lord Chris Patten and Sen. George Mitchell US Peace Envoy, and many others. For The Hands of History+20. Watson also created a number of new cutting edge installations. 'The Grappling Hook' - Watson brought an original Grappling Hook (secretly made almost 50 years earlier by prisoner planning to escape from Long Kesh Prison) to the Belfast Peace Wall, tied a rope to the Hook and scaled the wall to escape to the other side. A second unique installation titled 'The Keys', was created by displaying hundreds of keys from Belfast Crumlin Road Prison alongside an evocative sound piece that was created by using the keys as 'musical instruments'. Later this sound piece was developed into a soundscape experience and Watson released it in the form a vinyl album.
International
He has worked on art projects in Australia, Africa and India. In Calcutta, India, he produced a large scale temporary sculpture called The Helix of Hope with street children and orphans. Besides exhibitions Raymond Watson has worked on many community art projects that are designed to enhance deprived or troubled societies. He has presented his art practice at many international conferences and his work is in many private collections. The Peace Flags have been exhibited in many locations including AustraliaPublications
In 2021 Raymond Watson featured in an art documentary film, Can Art Stop a Bullet? Created by Australians Bill Kelly and Mark Street. The film was later published as book by the same titlIn 2017 he wrote a book, title, ''Ireland versus Israel''. This was published by Bill Drummond's publishing project Penkilnburn. In 2014 he produced a book on his artwork, titled: ''The Cell Was my Canvas'' In 2016 ''The Cell Was my Canvas'' was updated and translated into German, it is now available on line as an ebook.
In 2010 the book ''Belfast Flags of Hope'' was published jointly by Raymond Watson and supported by the Thomas Devlin Fund.
An example of creative flag flying in Belfast.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Raymond Artists from Belfast Alumni of Ulster University 1958 births Living people People from Cushendall