Legacy

Scottish artist Roderick Buchanan was commissioned by the Imperial War Museum to create a film work, following two Scottish flute bands during the 2009/10 marching season in Northern Ireland.

The two bands central to the artwork are Parkhead Republican Flute Band formed in 1978 and Black Skull Corps of Fife and Drum formed in 1981; two grass root organisations living today with the legacy of the Good Friday Agreement. The highly immersive films produced by Buchanan record the professional and social lives of the bandsmen and are shown simultaneously to give both sides an equal level of representation.

Irish Nationalists and Northern Irish Protestants have always sought and found support in Scotland. During the Troubles, bandsmen from Northern Ireland would travel to Scotland regularly in support of Scotland’s major parades; in return Scottish people would do the same for the big parades in Northern Ireland.