Dr Áine McKenny is a researcher, writer and curator specialising in how museums, exhibitions and archives shape — and are shaped by — war, conflict and peace. 

Her work sits at the intersection of history, museology and cultural memory studies, and explores how exhibitions mediate difficult and contested histories through material and visual culture.

Her doctoral thesis examined how women's experiences of the conflict in the North of Ireland have been represented in exhibitions and explored what narratives were rendered possible depending on the material, structural and imaginative dimensions of an organisation.

She has over a decade of experience working across museums, galleries and archives in a variety of roles and departments. Through working within museums as well as studying them, she has built a career that spans both practice and research, giving her first-hand experience, practical knowledge and academic grounding in the field.

Alongside her curatorial and research work, she has also honed skills in organisational development and communications. When co-founding the Memory, Narrative & Histories Research Collective, she led on its brand identity, logo and website, translating the Collective's research focus into a clear, cohesive visual language.

She currently works at The Peace Museum, where her work draws together her curatorial, research and communications experience. She continues to learn from both the collection and the organisation, and enjoys developing new ways to create access and engagement with this important resource and the histories it holds.