Dr Oonagh Murphy

The Ulster Museum or as its know in Belfast ‘The Museum’ has taken an exciting approach to making a travelling exhibition a little bit more venue specific. To coincide with the V&A’s touring ‘Street Art‘ exhibition which is currently on in the Ulster Museum, the museum commissioned a  number of local artists to create their own ‘gallery pieces’. The exhibition of these commissioned works has been titled ‘Tags Not Labels‘

The travelling exhibition is great, its got all the big names from Banksy to Jamie Hewlett…but the addition of work by local artists makes it a must see exhibition. As someone that spends a lot of time in London when I visit museums and galleries in Belfast I often think I’ve already seen that exhibition in London, or I’ve seen that painting  in a bigger more compelling exhibition. But by creating a mash up of the the travelling exhibition ‘Street Art’ and commissioning new work  the travelling exhibition looses its pre packaged feel, and instantly becomes a uniquely Belfast show.

Alongside commissioning  new work, the Ulster Museum has really reached out to new audiences by using a blog for the first time …check it out here >> , advertised in AU a popular local youth / culture magazine, and also used Facebook advertising.

Adam Turkington a local arts manager, and former director of Trans Urban Arts Festival worked closely with the museum on this exhibition. This partnership and the use of relevant platforms for advertising and to facilitate online conversations creates a strong foundation for future projects to tempt a younger, dare I say it cooler crowd into the Ulster Museum.