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Exhibition launch - Words melted into motion: WR Rodgers

The Public Record Office NI (PRONI) and the BBC are launching an exhibition on 1 February, commemorating the life of celebrated writer and broadcaster, W.R. Rodgers.
~ Tuesday, 31 January 2012

The exhibition has been curated by the BBC and will also showcase items from within the archives held by PRONI.

Director of PRONI, Aileen McClintock, said: “PRONI welcomes this partnership project with BBC Northern Ireland and hopes that it will lead to further collaborative working in the future. It provides the opportunity for visitors to see both the exhibition alongside PRONI material relating directly to Rodgers”.

Head of Corporate and Community Affairs, BBCNI Mark Adair said: “W.R. Rodgers made an important and distinctive contribution to the BBC. We are delighted to have been able to work with PRONI in bringing his achievements to the attention of a contemporary audience.

“W.R. Rodgers was a celebrated writer and broadcaster. His work was varied and prolific. It included poetry, essays and a series of innovative radio programmes. He was 'a literary figure in the widest sense' and his career was animated by a range of themes and influences. This exhibition describes aspects of his life, with a particular focus on broadcasting, and celebrates the diversity, and continuing resonance and relevance, of his achievements.”

The launch will feature an address by Rev. Dr Robert Tosh, Senior Producer, Religious Programmes, BBC Northern Ireland. The exhibition will be display in the lecture theatre at PRONI and will run until 10 February. The date of the launch marks the anniversary of the death of Rodgers in Los Angeles on 1 February 1969.

Notes to editors:

  1. The exhibition will launch at 1pm on the 1 February at the PRONI, 2 Titanic Boulevard, BELFAST, BT3 9HQ.
  2. PRONI was established under the Public Records Act (NI) 1923 for the reception and preservation of public records. The 1923 Act also makes provision for the deposit of private records in PRONI.
  3. The exhibition was curated by Mark Adair, Head of Corporate and Community Affairs, BBC NI, and Niamh Macnamara, Broadcast Archivist of the BBC NI Community Archive.
  4. The site of the new Public Record Office is in a prominent position close to the Odyssey Arena and adjacent to the Gateway building at the entrance to the Titanic Quarter.
  5. PRONI’s archive on W.R. Rodgers (Ref Number: D2833) includes poems, correspondence, scripts, diaries and notebooks.
  6. Media enquiries to Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure Press Office, Tel: 028 9051 5045 or email: communications@dcalni.gov.uk Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.