Curator Talk - Flying Figures by Elizabeth Frink at the Ulster Museum EHOD 2026

Join our Art Curator Anna Liesching for a relaxed gallery talk revisiting Belfast’s famous Flying Figures, once seen on the Ulster Bank at Shaftesbury Square, and explore their journey from city landmark to museum gallery.

For many people, these figures are remembered not from inside a gallery but from the street. For decades they were located on the Ulster Bank building at Shaftesbury Square, silently overlooking one of the city’s busiest junctions and through this, the figures became part of everyday Belfast life.

In this relaxed gallery talk, we will look closely at the Flying Figures within the context of the Elisabeth Frink exhibition, focusing on why these works captured the public imagination and how they came to define a place as well as a period.

Visitors will hear about the figures’ connection to modern Belfast, how public reactions to them have shifted over time, and what it means for such a familiar landmark to now be encountered in a museum setting rather than on the street.

You’ll also hear about Elisabeth Frink’s wider body of work, and how Ulster Museum cares for a significant collection of her drawings, sculptures and prints, offering a fuller picture of her creative practice.

This offers a chance to reconnect with a shared piece of Belfast’s visual heritage, rediscover a work many people thought they already knew, and see how public art can shape a city’s identity just as much as buildings, streets or stories. 

Tour will take place - BOOKING ESSENTIAL