Abstract
Related to the dimensions of both space and time, traces are signs particularly suitable for recalling the past or ‘establishing’ memories. Due to their perception as authentic marks left by someone/something, traces are able to trigger narrations and imageries connected to a certain space (Mazzucchelli 2010; 2014; Violi 2014), as they privilege an indexical relation to the object they stand for.
The aim of the present paper is to investigate a peculiar case, the one offered by the contemporary murals of Belfast; can they be considered as examples of ‘invented’ traces of the traumatic memory of the city, given their need to truthfully recall the past? Murals in Northern Ireland are often depicted on the spot where a tragic death occurred, thus maintaining a strong link between the event commemorated and the space, a central aspect for understanding the way traces semiotically function. This need for truth is even reinforced by the collective nature of murals, claimed to be community-based artworks able to express the real feelings of local people.
Even if deeply controversial (Viggiani 2014), this aspect plays a fundamental role in the way murals are generally understood and communicated, as well as in the way they enact certain memories. This effect of authenticity will be analyzed along with the interpretation of murals as an open, in progress and instable archive of traces left by different actors of memory.
In contrast with the common processes of collection and storage of traces, usually handled by institutional organizations like museums or official archives, the murals of Northern Ireland can cast a light on a different understanding of traces as memory makers in a more dynamic setting of remembrance.