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The “Troubles” may be receding into history, but its impact is still felt by many in Northern Ireland who lived through the decades of political and sectarian violence. Singer-songwriter Steafán Hanvey, son of acclaimed Northern Irish photographer and broadcaster Bobbie Hanvey, will share his uniquely personal perspective about growing up during the period when he returns to Boston College on Feb. 23.
Hanvey will present “Look Behind You!” – a musical and spoken-word concert that combines song and story with photographs taken by his father, whose archives are housed at BC’s Burns Library. The show, sponsored by Burns and the Boston College Center for Irish Programs, will take place at 7 p.m. in the Theology and Ministry Library Auditorium on BC’s Brighton Campus. Admission is free and open to the public.
The Bobbie Hanvey Photographic Archives offer comprehensive documentation of the people and life in the North of Ireland from the 1970s through the first decade of the 21st century. The photographs feature major figures in politics, arts, literature and other fields – such as John Hume and Seamus Heaney – as well as families and individuals from all walks of life, whether at work, leisure or in the midst of social and public events. Other photographs capture the dramatic landscapes of Northern Ireland, from an undisturbed scene in nature to a town coping with the aftermath of a paramilitary action. Burns Library has digitized and made available via its website many of the more than 50,000 images in the collection.
In “Look Behind You!” these photographs provide a counterpart, and sometimes a counterpoint, for the songs Hanvey performs. Most are his own compositions, which deal with themes and ideas that percolated through the three decades of Northern Ireland’s sectarian turmoil encompassing most of Hanvey’s life (he was born a few months after the tragic Bloody Sunday massacre in 1972).
In addition, he uses clips from his father’s radio interviews with prominent political and cultural figures, along with other broadcast material, as he discusses the role of language – especially by the media and authorities – in depicting The Troubles.
A native of Downpatrick, Co. Down, Hanvey grew up in a musical household. His parents played traditional music and recorded two albums. As a teenager, Hanvey began to explore his own path, forming a rock band at age 16. He released a mini-album while living in Finland during the mid-1990s, then moved to Dublin and released his debut full-length album, “Steafán Hanvey and The Honeymoon Junkies.” During 2004-05, he played in New York City, Montreal, Europe and at Boston’s NEMO festival; he also recorded three in-studio sessions at the BBC. In 2012, he recorded “Nuclear Family,” which along with his first album, provides much of the musical material for “Look Behind You!”
Although “Look Behind You!” inevitably touches on political aspects of Northern Ireland, Hanvey says the show is meant to be a biographical/autobiographical work. “I think the best way I can put it is, I have never written about Northern Ireland,” he said in an interview with the Boston Irish Reporter during his spring 2013 appearance at BC. “Northern Ireland has written me.”
Burns Librarian Christian Dupont said, “Steafán’s performances make fascinating use of his father’s photographic archives, with all the intimacy and sensitivity that only a son can convey. His show will have wide appeal, from those who are passionate about social and political history to mavens of creative multimedia projects – and, most of all, to anyone who has a heart that yearns to connect with others through life’s deepest challenges.”
For further information and directions for the Feb. 23 event, call ext.2-3282 or see www.bc.edu/libraries/about/news/2015/150216.html.