Live Aid Exhibition opens in National Photographic Archive
Bob Geldof speaking at exhibition launch, NPA
On Tuesday 23rd September the NLI launched the new Live Aid exhibition at the National Photographic Archive on Meeting House Square in Temple Bar.
Forty years on, this powerful exhibition captures the colour, energy and emotion of the legendary Live Aid concerts that ran together in Wembley Stadium, London and JFK Stadium, Philadelphia on July 13th, 1985.
Launched by Patrick O'Donovan TD, Minister for the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, with donor Bob Geldof, the exhibition includes over seventy rare images from the Band Aid Trust Archive featuring musical legends U2, David Bowie, Madonna, Black Sabbath and more.
| “Live Aid is one of the defining cultural moments of the 20th century, and it is an honour to open this new exhibition. These powerful images invite us to not only remember the Live Aid concerts but also to reflect on their legacy and the global humanitarian response behind the images." - Minister Patrick O'Donovan |
| “Band Aid has gifted its archives to the National Library of Ireland. It seemed a fitting home since Ireland magnificently rose to the day and pro rata gifted more to Live Aid than any other country on Earth. It also seemed appropriate as so much of the logic of Live Aid was formed by its organisers and participants in Ireland in their youth." - Donor, Bob Geldof |
| "Thanks to the Band Aid Trust’s generous archive donation to the National Library of Ireland, the memory of Live Aid lives on through the photographs, images, artwork and personal letters now in our care. The National Library of Ireland is delighted to share a selection of these with the public in such a vibrant exhibition." - NLI Director, Dr Audrey Whitty |
Donated to the National Library in 2017, the Band Aid Trust Archive comprises a rich collection of ephemera, correspondence, artefacts and 3D objects, as well as over 2,000 images documenting the Live Aid concerts. To commemorate the 40th anniversary, the collection of 2,000 images from the archive were digitised and published on the NLI online catalogue. See online photographs here. The Band Aid Archive has been carefully catalogued by the NLI and will be made available to researchers in due course.
Future programming linked to the exhibition will include NLI-led outreach initiatives exploring Ireland’s understanding of Ethiopia as well as celebrating the country’s rich cultural traditions, past and present.
Visit the exhibition:
Free and open daily from 10am to 4pm in the heart of Temple Bar, the Live Aid Exhibition is bilingual, fully accessible and not to be missed!
Bob Geldof at NPA
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