senior curator of history

About Karen

With a specialism in contemporary and community history, Dr. Karen Logan leads the team responsible for the History, Archaeology, and World Cultures collections at the Ulster Museum and the Transport and Industry collections at the Ulster Transport Museum. Her focus is on the legacy of the past and community history in Northern Ireland. She has published on these themes and curated several temporary and touring exhibitions including Gay Life and Liberation; A Photographic Record from 1970s Belfast and Figures Through the Wire; Artwork by Geordie Morrow. 

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In December 2018, Karen was honoured as one of only seven curators across the UK to receive a prestigious Headley Research Fellowship with Art Fund, supported by the Headley Trust. This fellowship underscored her commitment to advancing specialist curatorial skills and fostering collaboration within the museum community. Karen’s research focused on contemporary and community history and resulted in the publication Curating Conflict: The Troubles and Beyond and a co-curated community display within the Modern History gallery on the theme of pandemics past and present. 

Karen developed an approach based on encouraging dialogue, building understanding and presenting critical narrative and interpretation, within which multiple perspectives intersect. This is an approach which can be applied to other initiatives and in other contexts around the world. Karen has developed a strong network of key stakeholders and partners both locally and internationally and through this work, the Ulster Museum has joined the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience. Karen is also part of the War and Conflict subject specialist network led by the Imperial War Museum and a number of LGBT+ History networks.

'Curating Conflict: The Troubles and Beyond' is available to purchase from the Ulster Museum gift shop.