Divine Inspiration: Remarkable Objects Reflecting Faith
Grant K20/08: Mid-Antrim Museum in Ballymena
This Grant supported an exhibition which celebrated contemporary cultural and religious
diversity within Northern Ireland. 'Divine Inspiration: Remarkable Books, Prints and
Manuscripts Reflecting Faith', developed through a cross-border collaboration with The
Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, explored how religious objects reflect faith.
The exhibition aimed to provide opportunities to explore and appreciate Christianity, with
particular reference to evangelism featuring the local legacy of the 1859 Ulster Revival. In
order to reflect the increased cultural and religious diversity within Ballymena, where there
are now twenty ethnic groups living and working, the exhibition also showcased the other
great world religions through internationally important works on paper loan by The Chester
Betty Library.
Faiths reflected in the contemporary local population, include Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism,
Shintoism, Judaism and Taoism. ‘Divine Inspiration’ introduced some of the precepts that
differentiate faiths and promoted an appreciation of them; and in doing so aimed to support
Good Relations in mid-Antrim and the wider community.
Key artefacts exhibited included, from the Museum’s own collections, a recently acquired
pulpit associated with Jeremiah Meneally, a leading figure in the 1859 Revival from the
village of Kells, located adjacent to the town of Ballymena. The Museum secured on loan
from a private collector a unique artefact from the Revival years. James Taylor of Newry was
inspired by the 1859 Revival to hand write the Bible, a task which took him slightly over a
year and a half to complete. The Bible weighs twelve kilogrammes and comes complete with
a silk lined presentation box.
Some of the rare and exquisite art treasures on loan from The Chester Beatty Library, for the
first time within Ireland, included third century Greek papyri containing the Book of Genesis
and the Books of Revelations, and important material from the Library’s Islamic and East
Asian Collections.
Also featured was a specially commissioned photographic essay responding to the legacy of
the 1859 Revival created by artist and photographer, James Hughes.
The museum worked with the Ballymena Inter- Ethnic Forum with whom it had already
developed a good relationship through previous Peace II community outreach and exhibition
programmes, and with the Ballymena Inter-Church Forum. This exhibition sought to
encourage mutual understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity within and between
ethnic and indigenous communities of the North East.
The museum also co-delivered with Northern Ireland Museums Council, a seminar for
museum professionals entitled ‘Diversity Challenge’ in February 2010, focusing on how
museums could use their collections to engage with an increasingly culturally diverse local
audience.