With an exhibition of Live Aid photographs kicking off at the National Library of Ireland in Dublin, the Band Aid founder and activist Bob Geldof explains what it means to him, and to the Band Aid Trustees, that this vast treasure trove has found a home in Ireland…

Bob Geldof and the other five Band Aid trustees have gifted their vast and immeasurably valuable 40 year archives to the National Library of Ireland.

The donation was marked today with the opening of a photographic exhibition at the National Photographic Archive, in Meeting House Square, in Temple Bar, which was attended by Bob Geldof, and by the Minister for Arts Patrick O’Donovan.

The archives includes priceless artefacts from Live Aid, Live8 and Band Aid.

Live Aid, which took place on the same day on both sides of the Atlantic in 1985, has been variously dubbed “the greatest day in rock n roll”, ‘the greatest concert of all time” and “the largest civil rights mass movement ever.”

It was, arguably, all three.

Since the priceless material was delivered to them, the National Library has been busy cataloguing what really is an enormous archive. However, while that process is ongoing, it was decided that something should be done immediately, to celebrate the 40th anniversary year of Live Aid.

As it turned out, everyone was in agreement that an exhibition of some of the photographs – more will be coming to the Library – would be the best possible opening gambit, both to remind people of the day itself and to let the Irish public know that they now own this huge chunk of contemporary history.

As a result, furious work has been going on behind the scenes preparing a very special exhibition, which will give Irish people a real feel for the vast and completely unique treasure trove that has been bequeathed to the State.


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OCEANS OF EMPATHY

A decision in relation to what institution might become the permanent home to the Live Aid collection was always going to be a competitive one. But, in the end, the National Library of Ireland was chosen for a compelling combination of reasons.

“For me personally,” says Geldof, “there was element of ‘Bringing It All Back Home’. Life things I’d learned in Ireland, from the anti-apartheid days, through the Simon Community times, to understanding that the only way to possibly usher change into a largely static economy, amid political and religious corruption and societal compliance, was to make a noise about it. And the best way to do that was to use the language of frustration and change itself – Rock’n’Roll. That was The Boomtown Rats – and equally that was Live Aid.

“There were a lot of contenders for the trove,” Bob Geldof reflects. “Naturally the British Library wanted it, Harvard University wanted it and there were other suitors in the US and elsewhere in the world. It was a competitive process, but ultimately it was the enthusiasm of the National Library of Ireland that made the decision for us. I had seen the W. B. Yeats exhibition there and I thought that was superb – and if they could do something similar with the material from Band Aid and Live Aid, that’d be the ideal way to approach it.

“Band Aid is of course legally obliged to make use of all of its assets to the benefit of those whom we seek to assist,” Bob adds. “So while there is a substantial monetary value to these records there are other values attached also.

“In Band Aid, we took the view that it was important that current and future students – studying Politics, Economics and Development, as well as Cultural History or simply Rock music – would be able to access these records and use them for their work. The future consequences of this are unknowable – but I have no doubt it will be hugely impactful and resonate down the years, benefitting future generations of those most in need of our assistance and knowledge.”

The National Library of Ireland will make all of that possible.

“There was, of course, a very strong Irish element in the Band Aid organisation,” Geldof adds. “As I’ve said, so much of the logic of Live Aid was originally formed by its organisers and participants in Ireland in their youth. But then there is also the wonderful fact that Ireland magnificently rose to the Live Aid day. Pro rata, Ireland gave more than any other country on earth. As an Irishman, I was very proud of that – and so, to the other Trustees, it made a lot of sense to complete the circle. Irish people had played their part spectacularly in raising funds – and that generosity of spirit fed into the Trustees’ decision to go with the National Library of Ireland.”

Besides the structural details of how things were done – the mechanics, the economics, the decisions made and why, plus the results – the archive includes some of the most legendary photographs ever taken in the rock ’n’ roll era.

“That day, July 13, 1985 everyone was obliged no matter what their job was to work for nothing,” Bob says. “Obviously the bands and technical crews were playing and working for free, so photographers – including David Bailey, Patrick Lichfield and Brian Aris amongst others – agreed likewise. Like the classic band performances, Band Aid would hold the rights to their work in perpetuity, so that as a result of their work, however improbable it seemed, others might live.

“It is difficult now,” he adds, “in this age where the Death of Kindness seems to be the prevailing model, to imagine another time, when a grand Ocean of Empathy swamped the world in a sort of shared ‘Humanness’. But that’s what happened with Band Aid and with Live Aid.”


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HARNESSING THE GENIUS

And the work goes on.

“For 40 years, and continuing, Band Aid has been legally and indeed honour-bound to to raise funds from our assets for the work we do in Africa,” Geldof says of the Trust. “ And these photographs – some of which are even more iconic than the artists at this stage – are a part of that, including future sale of merchandise like posters, T-shirts, prints etc.”

All of that lies ahead. In the meantime, the photo exhibition is just the start of what should a great, ongoing adventure for the National Library of Ireland.

“As the custodians of this trove sift through the vast amounts of documents – including contracts, letters, emails, set-lists and so on – this exhibition will be the first of many,” Bob says. “The Band Aid Trustees are satisfied that the National Library of Ireland cherish their gift and understand it’s values – not just as a source of contemporary cultural history but as a future resource for further exhibitions that will hopefully be of immense use.

“Including to schoolchildren,” he adds. “I hope, passionately, that future generations of teachers will bring their kids to the National Library of Ireland, to learn that the world is not immutable. That change is possible – and that this is how, long ago, another generation set about enacting that change through using a common global language called Rock’n’Roll, and by harnessing the genius of the artists of the time – and the generosity of their audience.

Band Aid continues working for the poorest people in Africa up to the moment you are reading this.

Long may it continue…

• The Live Aid Photographic Exhibition opens on Wednesday, 24 September, at the National Library, 7-8 Kildare Street, Dublin 2