We are sorry to announce that due to strike action by members of the University and Colleges Union on 10 February 2023, this Conference is cancelled and won’t be taking place as planned. The Conference will not be rescheduled.

Speakers: Various

This one-day conference brings together high-profile scholars and practitioners from Colombia and Northern Ireland to explore how ideas in transitional justice travel across different jurisdictions, types of conflict and find expression in mechanisms for dealing with the past.

Concentrating on the synergies, differences and lessons learnt between the Northern Ireland and Colombian transitions, the conference examines the following themes:

• Justice, accountability and dealing with the past;
• The mechanics of truth recovery; victims' rights, reparations and acknowledgement;
• How transitional justice ideas travel

The conference will also include an exhibition of a selection of pieces from the Conflict Textiles collection. This transnational collection comprises arpilleras, wall hangings and quilts which depict conflict, disappearance, displacement and human rights violations, and resistance against these violations. These textiles capture the conference theme of ‘how ideas travel.’

Originating in Chile, where women created textiles to challenge the Pinochet regime (1973-1990), the use of textiles as a way to give testimony and resist oppression travelled across Latin America and the Conflict Textiles collection and online archive now include pieces from several continents.

A selection of pieces from Colombia and Northern Ireland will be on display at the conference. Further details on the exhibition can be found here.

This event is hosted in partnership with the University of Notre Dame and the Department of Foreign Affairs Ireland.

The conference organisers are grateful for support from:

Queen's University Belfast

The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice

University of Notre Dame

Department of Foreign Affairs Ireland