New touring exhibition: Images of Ireland for Ballycastle

A THOUGHT-provoking new touring exhibition Images of Ireland: the politics of identity, 1867-1916 opens at Ballycastle Ferry Terminal this week. A collaboration between the Causeway Museum Service and Mid-Antrim Museum Service, the exhibition explores an important period of history and cultural debate in Ireland, with specific case studies drawn from the region.

The exhibition is part of the Cultural Fusions Programme, which aims to promote a greater understanding and awareness of the rich cultural diversity of the North East. Cultural Fusions is funded under the European Union's PEACE III Programme managed on behalf of the Special EU Programmes Body by the North East PEACE III Partnership.

The theme of the exhibition is ‘identity’ – how ideas of Irish, British, Gaelic and Orange identity evolved over the period commonly known as the ‘Celtic Revival’. From the mid-nineteenth century, in Ireland, as in many places across Europe, there was a growing interest in cultural identity. This was linked to Romantic Nationalism that celebrated national historic and artistic traditions. At the same time local identities were being defined in political terms as a result of the Home Rule crisis. The symbols and iconography used to define Irish and British, Unionist and Nationalist, Protestant and Catholic identity became more prescribed and directly in opposition to each other. We are still living with the legacy of this cultural and political division today.

The exhibition will be on display in Ballycastle Ferry Terminal from 16th September – 13th October 2010, 12.00pm-5.00pm Monday to Saturday (except public holidays). Admission is free. This exhibition will continue to tour across the north east throughout 2010 and 2011 including venues in Larne, Limavady and Newtownabbey. For more information, or to arrange a group tour, please contact the Causeway Museum Service on (028) 7034 7234 or [email protected].