The small print reads 'Portrait of Northern Ireland' the large print states, 'neither an elegy nor a manifesto'. Inspired by that line from John Hewitt’s poem, the exhibition at the Golden Thread Gallery is headlined as neither a lament for nor a celebration of Northern Ireland. It is, however, part of the NIO Centenary events. 

“It shows how the artists who were born or have worked in this part of the world have responded to the particular and universal experience of the people who live here,” say the organisers. It’s lucky that the exhibition says it does not aim to be definitive, because it isn’t. But it does demonstrate some of the “quality and integrity of fine art practice over the last 100 years”.

Curated by Shan McAnena, ex Naughton Gallery at Queens, with an advisory panel, it starts with a Come to Ulster poster promoting holidays in the region in 1923 by an unknown artist and ends with a selection of recent graduates of Belfast School of Art.

Many of the works in the show have not been available for public view for many years. John Luke, Paul Henry, Gerard Dillon are all here. Yet only twenty two of the hundred and six pieces in the main exhibition are by women; twenty of the twenty-nine graduates showing are women. It’s odd to go into the Gallery and for it to have of the feeling of a museum rather than its own eclectic brand of curated exhibition with invigilators in every room.

This reflects the monetary value of the work on show. But it takes you on a journey from 'A Sense of Place', 'Encounters with Modernism', 'Chronicling Conflict' and 'Confronting the Contemporary'.

A curator may select an exhibitions from artist’s Instagram posts or make choices based on an in-depth knowledge and education from first-hand experience of visits to exhibitions, studios, archives and collections. However, all curators have their own take on who and what they select and why. This exhibition reflects that fact. It has Susan MacWilliam’s recent purchase by the Government Art Collection, 'An Answer is Expected', made in yellow gold neon. It might be a cheery reminder of their inbox for a civil servant on whose wall it will hang.

Everyone encounters an exhibition in their own way. At the doors of the Golden Thread Gallery in 2021 when Máirtín Ó Muilleoir curated the eighth instalment of the Gallery’s Collective Histories of Northern Irish Art series, I met a man who could not bring himself to go in. A usual regular, he peaked inside at the large Conrad Atkinson Tricolour painting on the wall and turned to leave. ( This is the painting that at one time was banned from the Ulster Museum but in more recent years has been welcomed back) 

There is warmth generously and humour in the exhibition; reminders for me of the first time encountering Ursula Burke’s Super Mario porcelain sculpture — of a paramilitary on downtime — on a cold Belfast night in her exhibition in Pssquared gallery. I remember even asking her the price but could not afford it. Now it’s part of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland's Art collection and features in the exhibition.  

There is an interesting series of events running alongside the exhibition from an intervention by Array Collective, this year's Turner nominees, on 4 November to Louise O'Boyle, head of Belfast School of Art, asking “Are you listening?” on Saturday 30 October. 

The exhibition runs to 4 November and is open 11-5 Tuesday to Friday, 11-4 on Saturday at The Golden Thread Gallery, 84-94 Great Patrick Street. This is a rare opportunity to see many of these stunning pieces.