Collins Barracks

Stories Between Us was an intergenerational public art and oral history project co-funded by the National Museum of Ireland and Grangegorman Development Agency's Public Art programme, '...the lives we live'.

Taking place at Collins Barracks in 2018 - 19, this collaborative project was led by socially-engaged artist Janine Davidson and the Museum's Education Officer Helen Beaumont. Project participants from St Gabriel's National School, Henrietta Street Adult Community Education and Phibsboro Active Retirement came together in a series of creative workshops at the Museum. They shared their own stories and experiences around the theme of past times, games and play. The oral history recordings were supported by the Oral History Network of Ireland and led by Dr Mary Muldowney, Dublin City Council Historian in Residence.

Emerging from the workshops were two Memory Boxes of objects created by Davidson, inspired by the project themes. The project culminated in an exhibition of the Boxes and a display of the project participants’ donated objects on the themes of past times, recreation and play, along with their recorded oral histories. The vibrant ‘Stories Between Us’ exhibition was on display in the Museum’s decorative arts galleries from 2019 – 2020. The oral accounts, which are a valuable piece of local social history, are now housed in the Museum’s archives.

Find out more about the project in the exhibition booklet at the following link:
Stories_Between_Us_Booklet_.pdf

“As an older adult it was pure joy working with the younger school children, teaching them the games we played like conkers, marbles and sharing experiences about our schooldays compared to their own. We had no computers or TV or mobile phones and yet they had great fun playing our games, it has been a great experience” 
— Peter, HACE

“I made four flowers and I also made a sun because, the sun is shining down on the flowers and that’s what I felt the project was it helped me grow and talk about more things than I usually do.”
— Student, St Gabriel’s National School