Belfast: City of Light

by Bronagh Lawson

What if, in the city of Belfast that is conflicted both emotionally and physically, a non-churchgoer artist decides to follow an artistic thread of visiting every church in Belfast for a service, simply looking and listening to what is going on?

Bronagh Lawson decided to do just that. After thirteen years of setting up and running cross-community, cross-border development programmes on interfaces in Belfast, she went back to her artistic roots and simply followed a thread of creative enquiry.

Ten years later, she considered how she could encourage others to see an alternative view of the spiritual life of the city. Belfast: City of Light is a true account of that journey. May it start a thousand conversations.

178 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2019

About the author

Born in Newtownards in 1966 to Frances and Paddy Lawson, who had returned to Northern Ireland to oversee the design and building of the Ulster Museum extension , bronagh sent her first two years on the Upper Newtownards Road with her three older sisters before moving to Portaferry in 1968. After Frances and Paddy separated in the seventies, the girls and Frances moved to a council house in Strangford. Educadted at Down High School . Downpatrick, in 1986 Bronagh attended art college in Bristol and then gained a first class degee in Textiles and fashion at Winchester school of Art, Hampshire. Moving to London on graduation, she won a Fulbright scholarship and attended Parsons School of Design in New York. Bronagh sometimes visited Northern Ireland and despired. Returning to Northern Ireland from New York pre-creasefire ,she spent some time as a participant on various cross-community developlment programmes before deciding to use her creativity in a different way. For thirteen years she set up and ran cross- border cross community development programmes mostly within the enterprise sector in interface areas in Belfast. Within this gift of a time she investigated her own socialization of being brought up in rural coastal Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and heard many stories from people in the city similar to life she saw only on the TV growing up-and often switched off as it was so horrific.
Bronagh returned to her artistic practice after collapsing in work one day, finding years of experience to fuel her output. her first book captures her open minded curiosity of what would happen as a non church goer decided to visit every church in Belfast for a service simply following an artistic thread.

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that is more than just a pilgrimage around places of worship in Belfast, it's a book of journeys and healings and art and spirituality, and the importance church plays in all of those roles, wether we acknowledge it or not. So many places and people I know in this book, some places I want to discover for myself. Written with an open mind, read with an open mind. And i'm glad such a book exists.

[David Campton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this as it gave an "outsider's" view of this thing we call church within the particular and peculiar crucible that is Belfast, with its history of political violence that has it's roots in religious divisions. However to describe Bronagh as an "outsider" is perhaps crass and unfair (as crass as to describe Northern Ireland's conflict as a religious one). Since I met her half way through the quest that makes up this book she has become a friend whose perspective on the world, and church I value. It is not an insider's perspective, nor an academic one... both for different reasons can be harshly critical of the church (sometimes with due cause)... but this is an artist's perspective, with a spiritual sensitivity that I wish I had. Some of that sensitivity is clearly borne of her own pain and sense of brokenness that gives her an empathy that many that she would have encountered are devoid of. I would have a different perspective on some of the situations and issues she raises, but that is only my perspective, and in the spirit of generosity that pervades this book I am happy to hold the tension of those, and many other varying perspectives. It is an interesting book to read in this time when physical church gatherings are banned because of coronavirus and many congregations and pastors (including myself) are struggling to find an online expression of church. Perhaps Bronagh should do a few online "visits" to the various offerings and share her insights as an online appendix to the book. Either way, I hope that the church in Belfast in all its variety continues to provide what Bronagh calls "portals of light" in this dark time, online, and when this crisis is over, in the physical space that is Belfast.

[Andy Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

'City in Light' has a phenomenal premise, a hook line to draw in readers of gimmick with finesse, ready-packaged for commissioning as a BBC/Netflix documentary series. It's particularly poignant for students of Northern Ireland. I wondered, how far do Catholic churches model their wall art on different media forms? What are the Summer fashions in this year's Methodist's catalogue? That's (seemingly) where Lawson begins, and then the experiment get stranger results and stranger evidences. Without seam, or 'One Damascus Moment' the story subtly develops into one of energy bodies and drip spiritual feels. The author taps into external channels of human convergence and a spirit of acceptance. These mirror her own and unify with them and with ease, take the reader to witness the process.

Before reading this, I'd felt too I'd done the church thing. Bored with the dourness of what I saw as (the facts) of atheism, I turned instead to polytheism. It's a fun, practical outlook but there's the drawback that the lack of access to 'all the Gods' makes pro-active practice difficult in Northern Ireland's monotheism. With 'City of Light', Bronagh Lawson turns that monotheism to the advantage of embracing 'all the choices'. It sits contently in the rare and unusual through-way of sociological and spiritual research report. Weirder yet it's an easy and compelling read and always deep. There's a conveyed multi-dimensional tapestry in the filling with anecdotes, summarised histories and broad qualitative info. In addressing Northern Ireland's obsession with religion it blows away the dominant stories about that as toxic myth. Every bit as page-turning N. Irish expose as Sam McBride's recent RHI investigation and a great companion to that. The agenda coming to the fore is community healing, from a 'come in alone' vantage. Most importantly, it's a subject observed with cynic's stabilisers, observed, before the prescription is offered. I'd love to have seen more of the fashions/artefacts statistics, but probably not as much as I think I would.

This is a book to soften the cynic's perspective. It's unashamed in asking for compromise but never demands or commands it. There is jargon, from simple 'God' to theological 'liturgies', but not much, not enough for corner brain rage. There's space here to keep yourself while listening. There's no missionary propaganda. This is a story of personal transformation through poly-community interaction. At the Belfast launch for this book a reader suggested that the author who'd not set out to get close to God (who had problems with that notion), had in fact found Godliness on her journey. The reviewer said she'd brought us with her and made the book compelling. I quite agree.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally picked up Bronagh Lawson’s book recently -- having bought it over a year ago -- and had a chance to make a start on it before the next major interruption in my life...whatever that was! But from reading, probably just the first 45 pages, or so, I have already found it quite amazing and such an easy-to-read, well expressed narrative about NI, its troubles, its people -- undoubtedly one of the most complex dilemmas in geopolitics (in which I was intimately involved during the 1980s). It felt, and seems, like she has managed to explain what so many, including all the major players and politicians on both sides, have been trying to get their heads around, without much success, for more than 100 years. Certainly, every politician and stakeholder, (including the security services), from Stormont to Westminster and beyond, who is involved in NI politics and issues needs to read this book at least once and have a copy on their bookshelves -- though it is a book for everyone. The level of understanding revealed about the inner workings of the hearts and minds of ordinary people on both sides of the NI religious divide is fascinating. I will be reading this book more than once.

[Philip Stanfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book over the course of a week. It's a remarkable.read and I'd.highly recommend to anyone who wants to.see what an artistic journey of 10 years into "faith" looks like.

The author is an artist first and last. This is the honestly written account,with no religious agenda,of an artist who visits a Belfast church near every week I've 10 years.

Disclosure - I myself am a Christinj brought up in North Belfast. With the author.ive been able in this book.to visit virtually so many churches ive never been to !

If you've no faith at all do.read the book with an open mind .. same guidance if you are a Christian.

If you want.to understand. Belfast and the impact of religion ... Read it.too

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshing to read about religion and spiritual activities in Belfast, that does not focus on the negative aspects of division, interesting to see just how much there is going on and to learn some surprising facts about the number of churches and services available. Peppered with personal experiences and through the lens of an artist's point of view, Belfast, City of light contains subtle, yet powerful shifts towards a positive perspective, one of acceptance, openness and hope.