Fionna Barber

Dr Fionna Barber is a Reader in Art History at the Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University. She specializes in contemporary and twentieth-century Irish visual culture, with a focus on feminist art history, postconflict trauma, and geopolitical borders. Her research explores themes such as temporality in feminist art histories, art practice and embodiment, and the intersections of art with political and social contexts.

Barber holds a PhD by Publication from Manchester Metropolitan University (2018), an MA in Social History of Art from the University of Leeds (1981), and a BA in History of Art from the University of Sussex (1979). She has held visiting roles, including Visiting Professor in Critical Theory at the Kunst Institut Trondheim, Norway (2004–2005).

Her recent projects include the Routledge Companion to Irish Art (2025) and exhibitions such as Elliptical Affinities: Irish Women Artists and the Politics of the Body (2019). She is affiliated with the Art and Performance Research Hub and networks like the Nordic Irish Studies Network. Her work often intersects with memory studies, particularly through her involvement with the Northern Ireland Prisons Memory Archive and her research on Long Kesh/Maze prison.

Barber’s publications span monographs, edited volumes, and peer-reviewed articles, addressing topics ranging from Irish modernist women artists to the role of art in postconflict societies. Her research frequently bridges scholarship and practice, engaging with contemporary artists and curatorial projects to explore urgent cultural and political themes.