The Lyric Theatre in Belfast has announced a new exhibition exploring the legacy of artist and curator Alice Berger Hammerschlag, part of its 75th anniversary programme. The Return: Alice Berger Hammerschlag and the New Gallery runs until 8 November 2026 and is the second instalment of the rolling exhibition series A House of Play: 75 Years of the Lyric Theatre Belfast.
Co-curated by Matthew Maw and Patsy McCartan, the exhibition examines the history of the Lyric's New Gallery, which operated between 1963 and 1969 under the direction of Berger Hammerschlag, a visual artist and Jewish refugee from Vienna. During a period when Belfast's arts scene was largely traditional, the gallery introduced post-war modernist art to the city.
The New Gallery is regarded as one of the most daring cultural experiments in Belfast's history, and at its centre stood Berger Hammerschlag, whose determination brought cutting-edge post-war modernism to a city largely unprepared for it. The exhibition features works by Alice Berger Hammerschlag, Anna Ritchie, Brian Ferran, Colin Middleton, Deborah Brown, Jean Osbourne, Kathleen Bell, Neil Shawcross and T.P. Flanagan.
Berger Hammerschlag was also known for promoting women artists through her involvement with the Women's International Art Club and the Ulster Association of Women Artists. Among those whose work she exhibited were Gillian Ayres, Anne Madden and Franciszka Themerson.
The New Gallery closed in 1969, the same year the Troubles began, and its history subsequently received limited public attention. The exhibition aims to revisit its contribution to Belfast's cultural evolution, forming part of a wider programme marking the theatre's 75th anniversary and highlighting its contribution to Northern Ireland's cultural heritage.
