The Troubles and Beyond

The Troubles and Beyond – An in-depth look at Northern Ireland’s history from 1960 to the present day. This exhibition looks at the impact and legacy of the period referred to as ‘the Troubles’ through objects from the collections and first-hand accounts. It is designed to be a dynamic space and continues to evolve in response to public feedback, social change, working life, arts and culture and the ever-changing world around us. Recent additions to the exhibition include the George Cross medal awarded to Health and Social Care staff in Northern Ireland and ‘Petals of Hope’, a publication based on the artwork created from the floral tributes left in the aftermath of the Omagh bomb. In addition, a new co-curated display within the exhibition explores our understanding of identity, where it comes from and the agency we all have as authors of our own stories. Working with a group of eight participants in Northern Ireland from different ethnic, political, social-economic and religious backgrounds, we invited them to share a personal object and story with us and we explored their meaning together and looked at them again with new possibilities. National Museums NI is continuing to develop our contemporary collection and recently, we acquired MEMENTO – AGREEMENT by Amanda Dunsmore and other artworks linked to the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement as well as larger social history collections and more personal objects and stories. A highlight of the exhibition is ‘Voices of ’68’. This interactive exhibition features testimonials from 30 political activists, historians and civilians who experienced a pivotal year in Northern Ireland in 1968 when the civil rights movement and political tension came to the fore across the province.