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Trigger warnings: exhibiting sensitive materials

When

Tuesday, October 10, 2023, 10:30 - 16:00

Where

Royal Irish Academy

Tickets

Free but ticketed
Book tickets

Downloads

PDF icon programme.pdf

How can we show sensitive materials in a way that is constructive rather than upsetting? Join us on 10 October for an informative and engaging conversation with professionals and researchers in the field of museum ethics and design, as part of the Dublin Festival of History.

Museums and exhibitions are usually experienced as places of truth, places we visit to gain knowledge about the past or to come to terms with difficult heritage. But how are sensitive materials, such as hospital archives, patients’ belongings, or medical instruments, selected and displayed tactfully? What decisions lie behind the choice of objects that make an exhibition, the language used to present them or the space in which they are displayed? How can we show sensitive materials in a way that is constructive rather than upsetting? Join us on 10 October for an informative and engaging discussion with professionals and researchers in the field of museum ethics and design, as part of the Dublin Festival of History.

The seminar will take place on Tuesday, 10 October to coincide with World Mental Health Day. You can download the programme here.

10.00 Registration

10.45 Welcome: Ruth Hegarty (Royal Irish Academy)

10.50 Introduction: Philip Cohen (Grangegorman Histories)

11.00 Keynote: Manon Parry (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)

12.00 Panel 1: Buildings with a complicated history
Chair: Dara Lynne Lenahan (EPIC Design)

  • Victoria Northwood / Colin Gale (Bethlem Museum of the Mind, UK)
  • Denise Murray (Metropolitan Workshop)
  • Jennifer O’Mahoney (Waterford Memories Project)

13.30 Lunch

14.30 Panel 2: Highly-charged objects
Chair: Siobhán Doyle (Historian and Curator)

  • Brenda Malone (National Museum)
  • Elizabeth Gagen (Aberystwyth University)
  • Alan Counihan (Artist)

16.00 Closing remarks: Nora Rahill (GDA)

Grangegorman Histories is a public history programme of research and shared discovery of the Grangegorman site and surrounding communities. Founding partners: Dublin City Council, Grangegorman Development Agency, HSE, Local Communities, National Archives, Royal Irish Academy and TU Dublin. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date with our activities.

Dublin Festival of History is brought to you by Dublin City Council and organised by Dublin City Libraries, in partnership with Dublin City Council Culture Company.

Image @ Alé Mercado

Grangegorman Histories

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