A Multiple Belonging

How shared histories impact on the representation of national identity is not something that has been fully explored in Irish curatorial practice to date. It is possible that this is because Ireland has only recently been affected by global mobility. This thesis is an attempt to establish how artists and curators can facilitate more open and pluralistic representations of national identify in exhibitions of contemporary art. Examining the term nation and looking at representations of national identify is a complex process that often reveals contradictory arguments. Global mobility has created what could be termed a crisis of representation in the contemporary Irish visual arts. This crisis of representation is addressed over four chapters in order to ascertain if a postcolonial approach to curating can offer a more fluid representation of Irish identity in the 21st century.