Helen Cammock’s Long Note explores the involvement of women in Northern Ireland’s civil rights protests in 1968
Helen Cammock’s The Long Note celebrates the role of women in the North of Ireland’s civil rights movement.
It was commissioned to coincide with the 50th anniversary of a civil rights march in Londonderry.
Cammock said her nomination was an “incredible platform” for her work.
The artist told BBC Radio Foyle: “It is absolutely amazing, it is recognition not only for me as an artist but for what the piece is about, that’s the most significant thing.
“It is really important for the film. It is an incredible platform, a way of sharing my ideas and thoughts and the things that are in the work.”
Nominated alongside Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Tai Shani and Oscar Murillo, Cammock’s work is now on show at the Turner Contemporary in Margate.
The Long Note, she said, “weaves its way through the stories and voices of women from Northern Ireland”.
The collage features archival footage, new film, text and interviews and was first commissioned by Void Gallery curator Mary Cremin.
“We wanted to commission a film about women and the civil rights movement,” she said.
“We thought it was a history that hadn’t really been spoken about or written about.”
The Turner Prize nomination brings the work to a whole new audience, she added.
“It is one of those exhibitions that is really owned by the public and the public is really engaged in going to it. For them it really reflects what is going on in the UK at a certain time.
“A lot of people don’t know about the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland or the context of it. I’m hoping it really makes people think about the history,” she said.
Members of the Turner Contemporary in Margate, Kent, stand amongst a piece by artist Helen Cammock
