I first visited the museum when I was at Primary School, we got a big coach up to Belfast from Portrush, I think I was only 6 or 7 at the time... I remember entering the room that housed the mummy, it took me a while to pluck up the courage to walk over and view her, I think I just stood there examining every detail, her hair, skin, teeth, I eventually had to be dragged away by my teacher! The only other things that I can recall from this visit were the items I bought in the gift shop... crystals I thought looked like cola bottles and a holographic dinosaur ruler (you know the kind, which when tilted show another image, and as if by magic the dinosaurs 'moved').....oh, and sitting on the big steps outside eating our packed lunch :)
My next visit to the museum was many years later, when I moved to Belfast to attend Art College, I lived in the 'Holy Lands' area in Botanic, and the museum was practically on my doorstep...as a pennyless student I spent many days roaming the corridors for inspirartion, never tiring of the exhibits.
The museum was closed for nearly three years while it under went renovation works and it re-opened on 22 October 2009, on its 80th anniversary. I couldnt wait for the re-opening, and I followed the blog religiously, watching the packing up of the exhibits and the sneaky peaks they slowly revealed. Id told my nieces and nephews all about it, and the excitement grew within each of them, the museum was about to be opened up to a whole new generation of kiddiewinkles who could only imagine what those vast concrete walls held....
........more soon :)
The relaunched Ulster Museum has been the most talked about new experience in Northern Ireland and it has been nominated for the prestigious Art Fund Prize for its spectacular redevelopment.
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Please vote for the Ulster Museum here! thank you :)
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