Nationhood: Memory and Hope was an outstanding collection of new photography celebrating the diversity of the UK in 2025. Curated by Anne McNeill, Director of Bradford’s Impressions Gallery, it opened during the launch weekend of Bradford 2025 – helping to kick off our year as UK City of Culture.

Nationhood: Memory and Hope offered a wealth of insights into the UK’s four nations in 2025, exploring how we each try and shape both our identities and our communities to make the world a better place.

The centrepiece of the exhibition was The Necessity of Seeing, a major new collection of constructed images by Ethiopian photographer Aïda Muluneh. Shot through her surrealist lens at iconic locations in Bradford, Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow, Muluneh’s new work revealed the overlooked stories, forgotten histories and quiet moments that shape who we are.

First seen on billboards around Bradford in autumn 2024, the exhibition also presented A Portrait of Us, Muluneh’s potent black and white photographs of unsung community heroes from the same four cities.

Nationhood: Memory and Hope also showcased striking new portraits by seven rising stars in UK photography: Shaun Connell and Roz Doherty from Bradford; Chad Alexander from Belfast; Robin Chaddah-Duke and Grace Springer from Cardiff; and Miriam Ali and Haneen Hadiy from Glasgow.

Nationhood: Memory and Hope opened at Impressions Gallery before travelling to Belfast Exposed, Ffotogallery in Cardiff and Street Level Photoworks in Glasgow – making this the first ever UK City of Culture project to take place in all four nations of the UK.

Aïda Muluneh was born in Addis Ababa in 1974. Her photography has been published widely, and can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, the Hood Museum of Art, the RISD Museum and the Museum of Biblical Art in the United States. In 2019, she became the first black woman to co-curate the Nobel Peace Prize exhibition; the following year, she returned as a commissioned artist for the prize.

Muluneh is the founder of Addis Foto Fest (AFF), the first international photography festival in East Africa, held since 2010. As an educator and cultural entrepreneur, she continues to develop projects with local and international institutions in Ethiopia and Côte d’Ivoire.

Learn more about Aïda Muluneh.

Impressions Gallery
Aldermanbury, Bradford BD1 1SD
Saturday 11 January – Saturday 26 April 2025

Belfast Exposed
23 Donegall Street, Belfast BT1 2FF
Thursday 5 June – Friday 11 July 2025

Ffotogallery
Fanny Street, Cardiff CF24 4EH
Saturday 26 July – Thursday 4 September 2025

Street Level Photoworks
Trongate 103, Glasgow G1 5HD
Saturday 1 November 2025 – Sunday 8 February 2026

Listen to an Audio Described introduction to this exhibition using the link below.