ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the idea of community and the significance of display. It analyses the three examples of heritage-based community activity in Northern Ireland. The three examples are– the display of memorabilia associated with the Orange Order, the oral history archive developed by Falls Community Council in Belfast and the development of an exhibition by a community development association in Newry. Each of these examples demonstrate how heritage has become a tool for community activity, and the nature of community formation. They reveal that group identity and community is a deliberate construction, forged according to the social and political needs of the group. The groups that have been involved in the People's History Initiative have included senior citizens, local cultural and historical societies, an ex-prisoners support group, and women's groups. The exhibition was also an important act of community-curation – the community selected its own stories, choose the objects and images to place on display, and provided their own interpretation.
