A new exhibition at Ulster University (UU) celebrates the life of the late John Hume.
The `He made hope and history rhyme’ exhibition highlights the former SDLP leader’s role in the peace process and as the key architect of the Good Friday Agreement.
Launched at Derry Magee campus on Tuesday, the exhibition marks the 25th anniversaries of the signing of the agreement and awarding of the Nobel Prize for peace to Mr Hume and the late leader of the Ulster Unionist Party David Trimble.
As well as panels detailing Mr Hume’s work, the exhibition includes one of five bronze busts of the Nobel laureate created by Ballymena-born sculptor Liz O’Kane.
There is also a tapestry, commissioned by friends of the late John and Pat Hume, highlighting Mrs Hume’s relationship with her husband and her role in the peace process.
Organised by the university along with the European Parliament Liaison Office and the John and Pat Hume Foundation, the exhibition will also tour to UU’s Coleraine and Belfast campuses.
Hume Foundation secretary Tim Attwood said it was apt that the exhibition opened just days short of what would have been Mr Hume’s 87th birthday.
“It is our duty to keep faith with the Hume principles, keep his dream of peace and non-violence alive and inspire current and emerging courageous leaders for peaceful change, at home and in conflicts internationally, who will chart a better way forward and build a more just and prosperous future for all our children,” Mr Attwood said.
UU Provost, Professor Cathy Gormley-Heenan said it was only right that the architects of the Good Friday Agreement should be featured.
Professor Gormley-Heenan said: “As a son of the city, it is fitting that the exhibition launches its 2024 tour of all our campuses across the region in his home of Derry-Londonderry.”
European Parliament Liaison Office director, Susanne Oberhauser said Mr Hume never ceased to remind that the Good Friday Agreement was inspired by the European Parliament and the European Project.
The exhibition is free and is located on the ground floor lobby of the MU building at Magee until Friday March 29.
