A new public exhibition has opened in Gibraltar that delves into the larger story behind the reopening of its border. The exhibition aims not only to inform visitors about what the border reopening meant, but to reveal the human stories, social changes, and cultural tensions that have evolved since.
The show includes photographs, personal narratives, archival documents, and interactive maps that trace how the border’s closure and later reopening shaped daily life—for families, trade, and cross-community relationships.
Among the curated items are oral history recordings from residents who lived through the border closure, as well as visual media showing economic shifts, changes in cross-border commuting, and how the border’s closure affected supply lines, commerce, and community ties.
Also featured are maps comparing infrastructure then and now, plus materials reflecting administrative changes, including how passports, customs, and border security evolved. These help visitors see not just the political history but the lived experience.
The space is designed to be immersive: walking paths replicate crossing zones, soundscapes reflect border controls, and multimedia installations allow visitors to ‘step into’ moments of tension or relief experienced by people when passage was restricted or resumed.
Educational programs are part of the exhibition: guided tours for schools, discussion panels for community groups, and collaboration with historians to deepen understanding of the border’s historical and contemporary significance.
The exhibition also serves as an example of how museums and public institutions can engage communities in remembrance and reconciliation, turning public display into a way to preserve local identity and heal divisions.
For Exhibition Globe’s audience — curators, museum planners, designers — this exhibition shows how history, memory, policy and place can be woven into exhibition design, making heritage accessible, relevant, and emotionally resonant.
