Images of Ireland exhibition

THE exhibition Images of Ireland: the politics of identity, 1867-1916 has opened at Ballymoney Museum. The exhibition, which is a collaboration between the Causeway Museum Service and Mid-Antrim Museum Service, features an array of wonderful objects from six local museum collections.

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 exhibition hopes to stimulate constructive discussion and debate around ideas of identity, culture and heritage and challenging our definitions of 'Orange' and 'Green' identity today. It draws together a rich variety of artefacts, archival material and photographs from Coleraine, Ballycastle, Ballymoney, Mid-Antrim, Larne and Sentry Hill Museums to illustrate the breadth of cultural activity and political debate across the region during the Celtic Revival.

The exhibition features the Feis na nGleann which first took place in Cushendall in 1904 and was an important landmark in exploring Irish culture, traditions and sport. Beautiful handcrafts from the Irish Peasant Home Industries Workshop established in Ballycastle in 1901 are also on display. Items like these were sold at the time through the shop, An Tuirne Beg (The Little Spinning Wheel), in the town.

Workshops exploring emblems and their use are available for school groups.

The exhibition will be on display in Ballymoney Museum until Saturday, 26 February. The Museum is open between 9am and 5pm Monday to Saturday (closing early on Fridays at 4.30pm) and admission is free. For more information, or to arrange a group tour or workshop, please contact the Causeway Museum Service on (028) 7034 7234 or [email protected].