Armistice Day, November 1920. In a moving demonstration of collective humanity, the Cenotaph is unveiled at the Funeral of the Unknown Warrior. This display epitomises what the Imperial War Museum is about - a place to understand military history as a personal, human experience. Through the Young Graduates for Museums and Galleries programme, I was allowed access to the Imperial War Museum to see behind the scenes, enabling me to gain insight into how this remarkable museum works.
During the last two weeks, my opinions of past and contemporary conflicts have changed, mainly due to the resources at the museum that were made available to me. Having only experienced the conflict in Afghanistan through the eyes of the British media, it was refreshing to hear clips of civilians living in Afghanistan from the sound archives. This contributed greatly towards making the conflict more tangible. The research that I conducted in the Dome highlighted the importance of context in learning about the history of British involvement in Afghanistan and the cultural and geopolitical aspects of the preceding wars in this region.
Viewing the film for the ‘Crimes against Humanity’ exhibition provided a candid evaluation of genocide that showed many sides to humanity by illustrating a state of mind as well as an action. This film effectively showed the psychological effects of warfare and clearly indicated that genocide is not endemic to post war Germany. However, all of the genocides mentioned in this film are to some extent generalised, Although these events are not unique in what they say about humanity, it cannot be excused that there is still the danger of becoming detached from the events themselves. Due to the nature of these historic events in context, each event is unlike the other. Each genocide has its individual facts that must be established. In order to avoid sounding paradigmatic, being accommodating to the truth is essential. Despite this, the film in general is a positive start in preparation for these sincere facts.
On viewing an Irish WWI roll of honour during a morning session on family history, it occurred to me that an exhibition on Ireland is greatly needed. As a museum that focuses on the history of living memory, acknowledgement of Ireland’s contribution during WWI during ‘The Troubles’ could not be deemed irrelevant to the ethos of the Imperial War Museum. The museum has a civil responsibility to commemorate lives of those who were formerly part of a British colony, perhaps using the Holocaust exhibition as a template to discuss attitudes to this issue.
In terms of working with young people, the IWM could produce leaflets advertising free drop in or taster events. This would make the museum more accessible, especially in conjunction with online journal or a youth forum. These courses could include impromptu workshops or seminars on interpreting atypical source material such using the museum’s resources in the Dome, sound or film archive. Providing a printed version of a schedule of events for the year would also be useful. It would also be worth giving people an insight into object conservation through these events. Getting involved in nationwide events such as London Week of Peace (20th-27th September 2009) could help to promote the museum’s peace collections, especially some of the more surprising trench art in the Exhibitions and Firearms collections. This could also be a good way to reach out to people who wouldn’t conventionally visit the museum.
As history is being made every day, the museum should continue to collect objects from more from recent conflicts while they are still within living memory. This does not mean, however, that the museum should stop collecting for conflicts such as WWI as they provide vital context for present and future conflicts. It has been a worthwhile endeavour investigating the Imperial War Museum so thoroughly – this experience has enabled me to appreciate and understand this museum so much more.
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