Peacebuilding a shared Northern Irish society
Ephemera to direct our future: Introduction to the Peter Moloney Collection by Allan LEONARD 10 April 2018 Peter Moloney, who collected Troubles-related ephemera for over 50 years, presented a personal lecture on how it began, why he decided to donate it all to the Tower Museum, and how he’ll keep on collecting. The negotiation to... Continue Reading →
Photo Detectives: An exhibition of community-researched Irish photo history by Allan LEONARD 6 January 2018 Photo Detectives is an exhibition by the National Library of Ireland (NLI) at its National Photographic Archive site in Dublin, of a set of archive images that online Flickr users have assisted with research and providing illuminating further information. The... Continue Reading →
Mr Turner’s apples by Allan LEONARD 27 September 2017 The Allison Collection held at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) consists of about 1,550 photographs and 34 volumes from Allison Photographic Studios between circa 1900 and 1950. The studios were established by Herbert Thackwray Allison, who came to Ireland in 1881 with his... Continue Reading →
A victim from the inside out: Photographic exhibition of Maurice Hobson by Allan LEONARD 6 September 2017 Maurice Hobson was a 17-year-old pupil at Dungannon Royal School when a bomb blew up in Market Square, while he was waiting to board the school bus. A car jack hit him on the left side of his... Continue Reading →
Solace or detachment in our journeys? Translink photography exhibition by Allan LEONARD 9 August 2017 Passengers who have travelled through Belfast Central Station this summer have had an opportunity to meet others captured in photographs by students from Ulster University’s School of Art. The public exhibition of large prints mounted onto easels is named “Journey”,... Continue Reading →
Poetry & Place: Photographic interpretations of Louis MacNeiceby Allan LEONARD25 July 2017 Women of the Ards peninsula worked with community artist, Jane McComb, to use photography not only to document social, maritime, and agricultural legacy of the area, but also to give interpretation to the writings of poet, Louis MacNeice (1907–1963), who is buried locally... Continue Reading →
Conflicting Images: Ulster Museum by Allan LEONARD 26 July 2017 As part of its Collecting the Troubles and Beyond initiative, the Ulster Museum currently has an exhibition called Conflicting Images: Photography during the Northern Irish Troubles. In a loose chronology there are 140 images from a variety of photographers. International photojournalists arrived with increased disturbances.... Continue Reading →
Open space photography at the Linen Hall Library by Allan LEONARD 31 May 2017 Gaining inspiration from viewing the archive postcard collection at the Linen Hall Library, a group of participants in a community photography workshop facilitated by Belfast Exposed set out to document their views of sharing and respecting open space in the city.... Continue Reading →
Softening images of Partition by Allan LEONARD 24 May 2017 Although John Irvine left Northern Ireland over 15 years ago, having grown up about East Antrim, he retains “strong links” and comes home frequently. Irvine explained how one morning drive accidentally led him to his book, Partition. Irvine picked up photography in his mid-20s, mainly... Continue Reading →
Then & Now: Belfast Blitz by Allan LEONARD 17 May 2017 In an apparent continuation of their Then & Now series, the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has produced a new set of blended images that show the material destruction caused by the Belfast Blitz attacks (April-May 1941), alongside contemporary and more familiar... Continue Reading →
Stéphane Duroy: Selecting memories by Allan LEONARD 3 May 2017 A recent exhibition in Le Bal featured a retrospective of the work by Stéphane Duroy. Again and Again contained a selection of hung prints on the ground floor and an installation of his reworked book, Unknown, in the lower level. The prints displayed his wanderings... Continue Reading →
Everywhere is different but nevertheless is not unrecognisable by Allan LEONARD 25 April 2017 Of the treasure trove of prints and negatives held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), a relatively small selection of about 2,500 images are available to view on Flickr. This consists of three collections: the Allison Photographic Collection,... Continue Reading →