bill rolston: curator tour

Explore Drawing Support: Murals, Memory and Identity, with photographer Bill Rolston and Curator of Modern History, Rebecca Laverty

Join Belfast-born mural photographer Bill Rolston, as he discusses his new exhibition, Drawing Support: Murals, Memory and Identity.

Along with Rebecca Laverty, Curator of Modern History, they discuss how Bill started photographing murals, his many relationships with muralists, and how he managed to photograph the H-block murals.

Bill Rolston

A man with grey hair, dressed in a shirt, hands in pockets standing inside the Belfast Room of Ulster Museum, at the reveal of a new murals photography exhibition. Framed photographs are on white walls behind him as well as a turquoise wall graphic that says 'Drawing Support'.

Bill Rolston, an emeritus professor at Ulster University, has been photographing murals since 1981 and is a leading authority on the subject. This exhibition is based on Rolston's photographs, many of which have been published through five volumes entitled Drawing Support between 1991 and 2022

Rebecca Laverty

Rebecca is a Curator of Modern History, working with the Ulster Museum collection and covering the period 1500-1968. She is responsible for documenting the NI Prison Service collection and other large collections associated with the Troubles and Beyond initiative. Rebecca has co-curated a number of temporary exhibitions including Faces and Places showcasing images by French photographer Bernard Lesaing, the A Collector’s Story: Tom Hartley exhibition and most recently Drawing Support: Murals, Memory and Identity which is an exhibition of photographs by Bill Rolston.

In Conversation With: Bill Rolston

If you liked the curator tour with Bill Rolston, enjoy Bill in conversation with Senior Curator of History, Dr. Karen Logan, and Ulster University's Eilish Rooney.

Explore the Collection

Explore Bill Rolston's photography that is featured in his exhibition.

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