Long Kesh Inside Out is the result of a two-year heritage project led by the Action for Community Transformation Initiative on west Belfast’s Shankill Road. The exhibition is the latest addition to the growing number of places in Belfast and beyond where visitors can explore the collective journey through conflict to peace.
Long Kesh opened in 1971 as a camp to detain loyalists and republicans who were interned without trial and later was used for sentenced prisoners. At its peak in the mid-1970s it held over 1,900 prisoners in compounds of Nissen Huts that were segregated along political lines.
The Long Kesh Inside Out exhibition includes:
- archive footage, artefacts and recorded personal stories
- an installation of a Nissen Hut
- examples of carved woodwork, leather goods, textiles and artwork by prisoners
- an area dedicated to materials used in the Long Kesh study hut
- artwork including a mural formerly in Compound 21 on loan from the Ulster Museum
A community engagement programme and education activities supported the exhibition. The project received additional support from Belfast City Council’s Neighbourhood Regeneration Fund.
William Mitchell, ACT Initiative Project Director, said: “We're definitely trying to change people's understanding of this place, in bringing loyalist narratives to the fore it’s hoped that misconceptions of our heritage will be challenged and dispelled.”
The exhibition content has been guided by experts and uses the Principles for Remembering in a Public Space, which were developed by the Community Relations Council and the Heritage Fund to make sure stories told in a public space are thoughtful, inclusive and challenging.
Information on opening times and tickets is available on the exhibition website.
