Saturday, March 21, 2015

Almost no coverage on David Best’s temple in Londonderry

What? No photos of David Best's temple burning in Derry? All the British newspapers are strangely silent. Even the BBC and the Guardian. The temple burned nearly 12 hours ago. Bloody Sunday.
What's with that? Aha! The Irish Independent covered it. Great pix.

Derry, today: Presbyterian minister the Rev Graeme Orr has said he fears the burning could leave people open to the influence of Satan.

"If this is paganism then I am Donald Duck," said David Best.

Apparently Donald Duck is yellow. And Catholic. Or the devil. Or both. But his soul is white as the driven snow.

Ouack, quack, quack. You said it, David. What's with these rainy day parade Presbyterians, anyway? Do they go looking for evil under rocks and sticks?
Annealed grief in the form of ashes
drifts over the River Foyle.
I remember Sunday, Bloody Sunday
My grandmother crying as she cradled the radio.

At least the Shropshire Star covered it:
Personal messages on the Londonderry bonfire remembered victims of  tragedy: babies;  suicides;  a young policewoman killed in a crash;  those who died during the 30-year conflict.
Among the fire  starters were people whose lives were blighted by one of the most  infamous events of the Troubles - the Bloody Sunday shooting dead of 13  demonstrators by soldiers.
One message said: "Happy birthday daddy, watching over us all."
Another said: "Baby Kath, we look forward to meeting you one day."
Around  60,000 people have visited the 70ft tower made of carved plywood which  has been erected over the past two months in the Waterside area of  Derry. Many have left personal messages remembering loved ones.
Artist creator David Best said: "It is an incredible gift people are sharing with you.
"We had a father bringing his son's picture, it was a picture of his son who had hung himself, and trusting us to put that up.
"It is an incredible gift betrothed on us."
He  said there were probably 40,000 names on the bonfire, etched into its  wood or pinned to its structures on handwritten notes, some with flowers  and photos.
The oldest visitor was a man of 89, who came to leave a tribute to his wife of 40 years who died from cancer.
Mr  Best added: "There is a baby's picture in there, those are tough. I  have spent a lot of time talking to thousands of people about loss and  they don't seem to mind it."
He said one man's relative was killed  at Bloody Sunday, in January 1972, when British paratroopers opened  fire on innocent civil rights marchers in Derry.
"They have all moved on, Ireland has made peace, you don't see any machine guns or barbed wire here.
"What  I was building was a piece of celebration, that people of Ireland have  come to grips with the Troubles and this is a place for them to  celebrate their accomplishments."
The fire was lit by Tony Doherty  and his son Rossa, among others. Their relative, married father-of-six  Patrick Doherty, was 31 when he joined the march. A report by Lord  Saville said he was unarmed and unjustifiably shot.
Flames from an  inferno at the base streaked up the steep sides of the structure,  starkly highlighting its supporting beams in vivid shades of orange and  yellow until the tower collapsed, prompting a roar from thousands of  people gathered on the hillside overlooking Derry.
Within half an  hour most of the structure was gone - transformed into flames  illuminating a city with the snaking River Foyle at its centre.
Presbyterian minister the Rev Graeme Orr has said he fears the burning could leave people open to the influence of Satan.
But Mr Best said he believed it would help the bereaved end their pain. "If this is paganism then I am Donald Duck," he said.
The  aim behind the temple was to bring together the artist from the USA's  Burning Man Festival in Nevada and the people of Derry to offer an  alternative perspective on bonfires.
It was brought to the city by  Artichoke, the London-based company behind the Lumiere lights festival  which was a highlight of Derry's year as UK city of culture in 2013.
Mr Best said his work could help heal families for generations.
"If  I am challenging the church and contemporary religion it is only  because they have got to do their job; if they are not out there helping  people and lending a hand with the issues in the country and our world  then it is their problem."
http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2015/03/22/the-bonfire-of-the-tragedies/

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