Public Project
Two Cranes
Two Cranes is an ongoing photographic document of Belfast’s myriad Chinese takeaways. The title is a play on both the iconic shipyard cranes of Belfast’s skyline and the birds with the same name, a Chinese symbol for longevity. Since the opening of the first restaurant in Belfast in Donegall Street in 1960, it is not an exaggeration to say that every town in Northern Ireland, however small, has its own Chinese takeaway, sitting alongside the three essential spaces of church, shop and pub. This work highlights their presence within the built environment, of which they have become such an integral component, and in turn amplifies one aspect of the largely unacknowledged contribution the Chinese community have made – and continue to make – to life in a country still too easily defined in political and cultural binaries. This work was begun with the assistance of SIAP funding from Arts Council NI in 2023.
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