Page - 10 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 05/02

and their aesthetics. Kingston-upon-Hull, the city I live in, has a total popula- tion of roughly 260,000 people and had a BREXIT referendum turnout of 62.9 % (113,355 valid votes) and voted 67.6 % leave.5 With unemployment rates of 7.54 % (age cohort 16–64),6 a below-the-nation- al-average average salary, and geographically located at the end of the trainline, the city has seen brighter days. As a North Sea port city, Hull was one of the most bombed cities during Second World War, leaving 95 % of houses damaged. Traces of the bombings can still be seen to this date, as for example with the remaining façade of the National Picture Theatre on Beverley Road (fig. 3).7 Economically, too, the city is struggling as it relied for a long time on its fisheries industry. Yet, following the Cod Wars that stretched from the late 1950s into the mid 1970s, the fisheries industry slowly declined and eventually collapsed. Moving from the continent to Hull as an outsider, I believe it is this experience of almost absolute destruction and economic decline that – in a way – shapes the character of the city to this date (though those who grew up in Hull might disagree with me!). For the purposes of this editorial, I walked and cycled through Hull to find traces not only of past glories but also of sites that manifest, materialize, and 5 Electoral Commission 2019. 6 Hull Data Observatory 2019. 7 BBC 2007. Fig. 4: British Extracting Company Silo, Hull. Photo: Alexander D. Ornella. 10 | Alexander Darius Ornella www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/2, 7–14