The stranger, the foreigner and the pilgrim are all familiar figures in literature, philosophy, theology and mythology. This figure - travelling the world in search of refuge and sanctuary - is one which has had a particular resonance for many millions of Irish people in recent centuries. This book is a window on a new aspect of the Irish experience that is the strainseir or pilgrim. It is one man's story of exile and renewal in a world where the concepts of home, place and diaspora are all changing at frightening speed. Jean Ryan Hakizimana's story is the story of an artist, the colours of whose palette reflect the multicultural tapestry that is Irish society today. It is a narrative that involves a journey halfway across the globe, a portrait of the modern world incorporating exile, starvation, and genocide before the final liberation that is the healing process of painting. Traumatised from the horrific childhood experiences he witnessed during the genocides of Burundi and Rwanda in the mid-1990s it was almost a decade later and at a distance of many thousands of miles that African artist Jean Ryan once again found the will to paint. This book sheds light on the diaspora experience of the new Irish, the refugees and asylum-seekers who are changing the face of many of Ireland's villages and towns that until recently had been emptied by widespread emigration. The economic miracle that has transformed Ireland in the past decade has been accompanied by much rhetoric regarding multiculturalism, integration and dialogue with the newer peoples and cultures that now live in Ireland. As of yet, however, there has been few attempts to chronicle or engage in dialogue with the many different aspects of the diaspora experience that define these new Irish, the young Irish who will carry a renewed and exciting new Irish identity into the future. One of the greatest challenges facing Irish society and the indeed the Irish educational sector is how best to harness the benefits of the wide range of cultural experiences, values and peoples that are now part of the Irish cultural fabric. This book is one of the first attempts at such a new an exciting intercultural dialogue in Ireland. It is only through such a process of dialogue that we may uncover a new politics of truth (Foucault, 1977), a new discourse and a more productive understanding of the relationship that now exists between the various strands of Ireland's multicultural society.
About the Author: Jean Ryan Hakizimana is a 29-year-old artist. Born in Rwanda, his parents were Burundian - his father a Hutu and his mother a Tutsi. The Burundian genocide of the early 70's forced their family to flee into Rwanda, and they were assisted in their escape by an Irish priest, Fr. Ryan. Eternally grateful for his help, the parents gave their youngest son the middle name 'Ryan' in honour of this priest's generosity. In the early 90's the family returned to live in Burundi, but it wasn't long before tragedy struck for a second time. In 1993, following the assassination of Hutu president Melchior Ndadaye, a bloody ethnic conflict erupted in Burundi when extremists in both the Tutsi and Hutu communities began killing one another. Many thousands of people were murdered including Jean Ryan's father and two sisters. In 1999, after many years moving from one refugee camp to another, Jean Ryan was forced to join a rebel army. Shortly after his conscription into this group his mother was killed and he found himself imprisoned by the Rwandan army in one of its most notorious underground systems in the Rwandan capital Kigali. He suffered both psychological and physical torture here but eventually managed to escape from prison and make his way to Tanzania. He has lived the precarious existence of an asylum-seeker ever since and after travelling almost halfway across the world he made his way to Ireland where he arrived with just body and soul intact. Upon arrival in Limerick he had no family, no English, and no certainty about his future. Now living in Limerick, Jean Ryan uses his paintings to tell the story of his troubled past and the difficulties experienced by asylum-seekers all over the world. Dr. Michael Hayes works as a Lecturer (part-time) at the University of Limerick where he lectures on a number of History, Politics and Social Studies courses incorporating Traveller, Roma and Migration Studies. He completed a PhD. on the subject of Irish Travellers and the Irish settled (non-Traveller) community's perception of this minority. He has also published six books about the socio-cultural history and development of a number of different (traditionally nomadic) groups within the Irish Traveller community The Candlelight Painter (2004); Parley-Poet and Chanter (2004); Canting with Cauley (2005); A Compendium of Fairground Speech (2005); Counter-Hegemony and the Irish Other (2006); Otherness and Identity in Modern Ireland: The Case of Irish Travellers and the Immigrant Roma (2006). These books chart the attempts of these communities to counter their portrayal as deviant Others within the modern Irish state. His book Irish Travellers: Representations and Realities is due to be published by Liffey Press, Dublin in June, 2006. He also works in the area of Asylum and Asylum-process - in particular the policy implications and effects of present-day Asylum procedures as applicable within the EU and Ireland. He has been involved in community work with Travellers, asylum-seekers and other marginalised groups both in Liverpool, England and in Limerick, Ireland for the past twelve years.