Northern Ireland

Interactive version of 'Derry Girls' iconic blackboard now online

The famous `Differences' blackboard (on which are scrawled dozens of differences between Catholics and Protestants) from the hit TV series Derry Girls
The famous `Differences' blackboard (on which are scrawled dozens of differences between Catholics and Protestants) from the hit TV series Derry Girls The famous `Differences' blackboard (on which are scrawled dozens of differences between Catholics and Protestants) from the hit TV series Derry Girls

IT was one of the TV moments of 2019 and now you can test your religious stereotype through `Derry Girls' iconic `differences' blackboard in your own home as the Ulster Museum opens its virtual doors.

The museum, in partnership with the Nerve Centre, has transformed its popular CultureLab exhibition into a fully immersive digital experience to provide public access while it is temporarily closed.

CultureLab was only open in the Ulster Museum for a month before lockdown closed its doors to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

It was to help people explore cultural identity and expression in Northern Ireland and the border counties and is part of `Making the Future' funded by the €270 million PEACE IV programme, which aims to promote peace and reconciliation in north and along the border.

Exhibits including the famous `Differences' blackboard (on which are scrawled dozens of differences between Catholics and Protestants) from the hit TV series Derry Girls, with an accompanying on-screen ‘Religious Stereotype Calculator’, aimed at determining how Protestant or Catholic.

It was an instant hit drawing hundreds of visitors in during its first week.

Aaron Ward from National Museums NI said the digitised version is immersive and as interactive as the real world show.

"Everybody is delighted that we were able to recreate the exhibition in its entirety in digital form so we look forward to lots of people engaging with it.

"While it is fun and lighthearted, it also has a more serious purpose in challenging stereotypes which continue to persist in Northern Ireland and the border counties.

"The project is characterised by respect for different traditions and the ability to celebrate cultural diversity in an environment free for prejudice, intolerance and hate.

Niall Kerr, Making the Future Project Manager at the Nerve Centre, said he hopes now many more people who had planned to visit the exhibit will still be able to see it.

"Following the success of CultureLab as a physical exhibition, we're excited to be able to bring it online and to open up the experience for new audiences while they can't visit the Ulster Museum in person.

"CultureLab is a key component of the `Making the Future' programme which uses objects, collections and archives from key institutions to pose challenging questions about the past, take the temperature of where are as a society and create potential solutions for our future.

"Along with the exhibition, the project has been able to run a series of online community engagement programmes, using collections and resources at National Museums NI to engage participants across the region with themes and ideas linked to CultureLab and to bring people together in an exploration of our shared heritage."

The exhibition is now available on www.culturelab.makingthefuture.eu/