11 Jan – 26 Apr 2025
Nationhood: Memory and Hope
Aïda Muluneh
A modern-day insight into our four nations.
Belfast Exposed, Belfast
Ffotogallery, Cardiff
Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow
- Wheelchair user access
- Seating available
- Relaxed environment
- Audio described
New work from acclaimed Ethiopian artist Aïda Muluneh and seven UK photographers feature in this major exhibition at Impressions Gallery.
About the exhibition
Nationhood: Memory and Hope is 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 opens during the launch weekend of Bradford 2025 – helping to kick off our year as UK City of Culture.
Nationhood: Memory and Hope offers a wealth of insights into the UK’s four nations today, 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 is 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 reveals 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 presents 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 showcases 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 opens 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.
Watch the video
About Aïda Muluneh
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.
Across the UK
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 20 September – Sunday 21 December 2025
Lead image: The Dew at Dawn, 2024, part of The Necessity of Seeing © Aïda Muluneh
