Private collectors Peter Heathwood and Alex Bunting at Belfast EOE launch
About the Exhibition
The ‘Everyday Objects Transformed by the Conflict’ project and exhibition brings together many views and experiences of the recent conflict in and about Northern Ireland. The exhibition reveals both unique and everyday stories through a range of loaned objects and their accompanying labels, all written in the words of those who own them.
The exhibition does not aim to agree on one single version of history but instead lets people from various backgrounds speak for themselves. Objects such as a bin lid used as a street communication tool in nationalist areas, a bullet-proof clipboard used by the security forces, as well as a matchbox with a well-known unionist slogan ‘Ulster says No’ printed on its cover are examples of the range of diverse objects on loan for this exhibition. The stories behind these objects not only offer a glimpse into the everyday lives and memories of individuals, communities and organisations, they also help visitors explore the nature, causes and effects of conflict.
Development of the Project
The exhibition has its origins in an audit carried out in 2008 by Healing Through Remembering in partnership with Queen’s University Belfast. This ‘Artefacts Audit’ listed material culture of the conflict in and about Northern Ireland. As a result of the audit, an artefact database was developed by Healing Through Remembering and is available online. Most of the objects in this exhibition are from this audit. Other contributions to the exhibition come from collections more recently identified by Healing Through Remembering and these have helped to further broaden the range of views expressed in the exhibition.
The project has many hopes and aspirations which include:
1) To stimulate an interest in the collections lending the objects;
2) To create a network of communication between collections;
3) To inform the debate on a Living Memorial Museum and dealing with the past; and,
4) To open up a platform in which diverse voices and experiences of the conflict can be heard.
Process
In-depth conversations about the challenges involved in staging a shared exhibition on the conflict and how best to develop a process that would allow such an event to take place have been as important to this project as the exhibition itself. Healing Through Remembering members and collectors involved in the exhibition have been engaged in regular meetings to discuss content, interpretation, and design, as well as suitable venues. Feedback from members of the public during a small pilot exhibition in November 2011 has also been invaluable in helping shaping the ‘Everyday Objects Transformed by the Conflict’ exhibition and will continue to be important as the exhibition travels to various different locations.
Submission
If you have a story about an everyday object, please email the Exhibition Curator at exhibition@healingthroughremembering.org with more details.
Ethics
‘Everyday Objects Transformed by the Conflict’ commits itself to promoting the highest standard of ethical codes to develop a traveling exhibition which deals with the past.
To ensure best practice it operates to three ethical codes:
Healing Through Remembering
Core Values and Principles for Dealing with the Past
