The family of Seamus Heaney will perform the official opening of the new arts and literary centre dedicated to the life and literature of the late poet and Nobel Laureate.
The family will open Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy at a special event on September 29 in the presence of 200 guests.
The following morning, Friday, September 30, HomePlace, which is being developed by Mid Ulster District Council, will welcome its first visitors to experience the exhibition.
Arranged over two floors and filled with personal stories, artefacts, dozens of family photographs, video recordings from friends, neighbours, world leaders and cultural figures, the exhibition features the voice of the poet himself reading his own words and uses the latest touch screen, video and audio technology. It also includes a recreation of the poet’s Dublin study.
Chair of Mid Ulster District Council, Councillor Trevor Wilson, said: “We have been privileged to enjoy the support of the Heaney family as this project has developed and are honoured and delighted that the family will open HomePlace. There can be no more appropriate people to do so than those to whom he was closest in life.”
HomePlace also boasts a 189-seat performance space, the core venue for much of the year-long cultural events programme ‘12 Months, 12 Books’ which has been developed by artistic programmers, DoranBrowne, and is based around the 12 original volumes of Seamus Heaney’s poetry.
The building is also home to a library, education and learning spaces, a café, shop and an annex for community use.
For further information visit www.seamusheaneyhome.com.
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