The Ulster Museum recently re-opened it’s doors after a three year renewal project that won it the UK Art Fund and Best Permanent Exhibit awards. These awards were well-deserved as the museum is both educational and beautiful; it has the most text/labels that I have yet to see in a museum yet the aesthetics of the building and displays still has a highly artistic component.

From the outside, the Museum architecture is a beautiful marriage of both new(ish) and older styles; minimalistic yet historic. Gary says that architects have a specific name for this style but I can’t remember what it is at the moment… I shall have to ask him again.

Once inside, the museum guest enters a large, airy, modern atrium that (although quite beautiful) I thought was almost overwhelming. I felt as if I needed to sit down and gather my thoughts to make a decision about where to go and what to see in the museum rather than being guided through as in most. This is both a positive and negative aspect of the new directions that some museums are trying to take. In working toward facilitating multiple ways of knowing, the museum can become a confusing place for the visitor who is unsure which ways are available to experience the museum. Does that make sense?

To give a more concrete example, after entering the atrium of the Ulster Museum feeling quite overwhelmed, I simply took the nearest entrance to the nearest exhibit and started my journey there.

At the end of my visit, I felt myself wishing that I had entered the opposite way which would have facilitated a more chronological experience for me. Instead, I started with the welcome area, a space that contained objects from each exhibit and provided a broad overview of the Museum, continued on to an exhibit of the Troubles, and then chronologically moved backward in time through the history of Ulster.

It was an excellent experience, but I definitely want to go back again this week to start the journey over, this time beginning at the Ice-Age Ireland exhibit and working through to present day.

Highlights:

• Extensive visual and textual history of Northern Ireland
• Respectfully and tastefully presented overview of the Troubles
• Many tactile experiences, hands-on exploration encouraged
• Free entry!!

Not-so awesome bits:

• Temporary exhibit:
  • objects were grouped together by ceremonial significance (eg: birth, death, marriage, etc), but the categorisation was confusing and almost misleading at times
  • the labels were too same and removed from objects, creating an even bigger chasm between the object and it’s context. Also, the text within the labels overused the past tense when talking about living cultures.
• Open concept in the atrium leading to a strict, linear way of experiencing the museum