Evaluation of Response to 'Everyday Objects Transformed by the Conflict' Exhibition.

Karine Bigand (1)

1 LERMA - Laboratoire d'Etudes et de Recherche sur le Monde Anglophone

This project seeks to assess the contribution made by the “Everyday Objects Transformed by the Conflict” exhibition to addressing the legacy of the conflict in museums and exhibitions in Northern Ireland. The exhibition was put together by the cross-community organization Healing Through Remembering, whose remit is to explore mechanisms for dealing with the past in Northern Ireland. Having reflected for several years on the idea of a Living Memorial Museum of the Conflict, the organization conceived the exhibition as a trial run for its ideas. This project comments on Healing Through Remembering’s role in the debate on dealing with the past as well as its reflection on a Living Memorial Museum of the Conflict. It provides a thorough analysis of the exhibition by presenting the curatorial choices made in terms of contents, venues, interpretation and layout and by assessing the visitor feedback collected in the five venues where it toured in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties between March and August 2012. By looking at the visitors’ opinion of the exhibition as well as their experiences of it, feedback analysis allows to reflect on museum practices when representing conflict and whether the curatorial specificities of the exhibition are transferable to the museum world.

Mots clés: Healong Through Remembering; exhibition; Northern Ireland; conflit

Domaines: Histoire; Héritage culturel et muséologie

Karine Bigand. Evaluation of Response to 'Everyday Objects Transformed by the Conflict' Exhibition. . 2013. ⟨halshs-01408480⟩