The art of the possible: Social justice in museum galleries - An exploration of the Hugh Lane Gallery and the exhibition ‘Bones in the Attic’ as a medium to communicate issues of social justice and hold space for conversations around change

From cabinets of curiosities to being used as a tool to promote democracy, museums have evolved over the course of history and have influenced the shaping of modern-day society. This thesis explores museums, and museum galleries as essential institutions to communicate issues of social justice to the public and how museum exhibitions can become a middle ground for peaceful discourse and congregation, an amenity needed in society today. Museum gallery practices in the Hugh Lane Gallery are explored and highlight how museums can create space for conversations about change.

This thesis visually and thematically analyses the exhibition Bones in the Attic in the Hugh Lane Gallery. It explores how the exhibition expresses the themes of feminism, as an issue of social justice, within the artworks of 11 Irish artists present in the exhibition, through 3 lenses: mythology; feminism and exhibition design. Furthermore, this thesis closely examines the exhibition’s educational and social community involvement programme by exploring the event ‘Study Morning: Bones in the Attic’. This is an example of advancing museum practice in creating a space for conversations around societal issues affecting women in Ireland, in the past, present and future. The structural limitations of curating exhibitions around topical issues, such as feminism after Covid-19 are discussed and the future directions of museum galleries are suggested.