About The Exhibition
In 2002 Belfast Exposed commissioned a sequence of colour portraits of bus workers, one of its contributions to the Routes project, a series of arts activities and events documenting the experience of people employed in Northern Ireland's bus industry over the past thirty years.
To the credit of people right across the North, a common public transport system was maintained even at the height of the conflict, but delivering an integrated service to an increasingly divided society meant bus workers often found themselves at the front line.
Four years on from the Good Friday Agreement, in the face of continuing sectarian violence at flashpoint areas, and while many of the barriers between communities are solidifying, to the point of becoming commonplace, public transport workers continue to move people across geographical, class and sectarian boundaries.
The exhibition at Belfast Exposed took place in the context of a series of drama, film, oral history and visual arts events exploring related themes, at venues around Belfast during May. One of Ursula's images will be sited on a working bus travelling through the city.
Routes represents a creative partnership between artists, arts organisations, shop stewards and bus workers.