The National Library of Ireland launches special Live Aid photographic exhibition at the National Photographic Archive

The National Library of Ireland (NLI) has launched Live Aid at the National Library of Ireland, a new photographic exhibition at the National Photographic Archive.

The new exhibition includes more than seventy photographs and images curated from the Band Aid Trust Archive, taken at the two iconic Live Aid concerts held at Wembley Stadium and JFK Stadium in July 1985.

The exhibition was launched today by the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan, TD, and attended by Bob Geldof.

Commenting on the exhibition, Dr. Audrey Whitty, Director of the National Library of Ireland, said: “In Bob Geldof’s introduction to Live Aid: The Greatest Show on Earth he asks readers to ‘remember this day all of your lives’. Thanks to the Band Aid Trust’s generous archive donation to the National Library of Ireland, the memory of Live Aid lives on through the photographs, images, artwork and personal letters now in our care.

"The National Library of Ireland is delighted to share a selection of these with the public in such a vibrant exhibition," she continued. "In preserving and presenting this iconic material, the legacy of Live Aid will be enhanced and continue to endure in Ireland’s cultural memory.”

Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan, TD, said: “Live Aid is one of the defining cultural moments of the 20th century, and it is an honour to open this new exhibition. These powerful images invite us to not only remember the Live Aid concerts but also to reflect on their legacy and the global humanitarian response behind the images.

“My Department is delighted to fund the National Library of Ireland in its role and ongoing work to preserve such legacies and ensure they remain freely accessible to the public.”

Donor, Bob Geldof, added: “Band Aid has gifted its archives to the National Library of Ireland. It seemed a fitting home since Ireland magnificently rose to the day and pro rata gifted more to Live Aid than any other country on Earth. It also seemed appropriate as so much of the logic of Live Aid was formed by its organisers and participants in Ireland in their youth.

The free exhibition will open to the public from tomorrow, September 24, and will be available daily form 10am to 4pm. The programming will also include a series of outreach initiatives by the NLI, examining Ireland’s understanding of Ethiopia in the post-Live Aid era and the country’s rich cultural traditions, past and present.

Live Aid at the National Library of Ireland follows the work of librarians at the NLI, who catalogued and digitised a selection of material from 400 boxes of administrative material, artefacts and 3D objects, as well as over 2,000 images documenting the Live Aid concerts. Those newly digitised images are permanently accessible online here.