Two weeks of events showcasing Northern Ireland have begun in Washington with the opening of a major exhibition on the Titanic, highlighting Belfast's history as an innovative industrial centre.
A delegation of Northern Ministers, led by Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and Minister for Finance Peter Robinson, who is representing First Minister Ian Paisley, will be in Washington this week for the opening of a festival celebrating the North's history and culture on the National Mall and for meetings with key figures in Congress, the Bush administration and US business.
"It's really about getting out the message that Northern Ireland is a very different place from the one people would imagine from 10 years ago," said Tim Losty, director of the Northern Ireland Bureau, which represents the Northern Executive in the United States.
Titanic, Built in Belfast draws on the archives of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, using large-scale photographs, moving images, audio archive and 3-D graphics to tell the story of the ship and its construction in Belfast.
"It's a world story, claimed by many but owned by Belfast and Northern Ireland," said Tourism Ireland chief executive Paul O'Toole.
Opening the exhibition at Washington's Union Station, the North's Minister for Culture, Edwin Poots, addressed the troubling question at the back of everyone's mind. "Why celebrate a ship that sank?" he said "Well, as we say back in Belfast, it was alright when it left us."
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which opens today, will showcase everything from the culture and crafts of the North to its cuisine, farming traditions and innovations and sport.
Pavilions on the Mall will feature whiskey making, musical instruments from both traditions and the more recent Northern phenomenon of call centres.
In conjunction with the festival, the Northern ministers will discuss trade, investment and academic opportunities with potential US partners, both in government and in the private sector.
They will also meet US officials involved in conflict resolution throughout the world to look at how the North's experience could be useful elsewhere.