War and Conflict Subject Specialist Network

In this post, we learn about a new project from the Freedom Women Collective - female artists who survived war, conflict and forced displacement, and resettled as refugees to Hull and East Yorkshire.

This International Women’s Day, we are celebrating some of the inspirational women involved in the IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund programme. With over 20 art commissions around the UK, the Legacy Fund represents a diverse range of perspectives on conflict, expressed through a rich variety of artforms.

Commissioned as part of the IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund, When the Brazen Bands Shall Play is an eight movement musical work by UK composer Michael Betteridge. Performed by brass musicians and a narrator, it commemorates and celebrates HMS Unicorn’s role as a training ship in the First World War. Matthew Moran, Executive Director of HMS Unicorn, shares his reflections on this project.

In her final blog post, Dr Lee Karen Stow continues the story of her grandmother, Olive May Jordan (nee Bertholini). It forms part of Lee's work Visual Traces, a visual narrative exploring the wartime experiences of civilian, working-class women in her family and birthplace of Hull through the traces they left behind.

Dr Lee Karen Stow continues the story of her late-grandmother, Olive May Bertholini, through traces left behind. In this third blog post, Lee shares how a canister of Brasso and inky scrawls on a Census, helped her to uncover more of Olive May's life during the First World War.

What is a Cold War object? How have museums collected and interpreted the Cold War in the past and how might they in future? How do audiences respond to the Cold War in museum displays? Dr Sarah Harper introduces a new toolkit on collecting, interpreting, and displaying Cold War history, designed for professionals and volunteers in museum and heritage settings of all sizes.

The Cod Wars, a series of confrontations between Iceland and the UK overfishing rights in the North Atlantic, have been a topic of discussion for decades. However, the impact of this conflict on the fishing industry and the communities involved has often been overlooked. That's where the "Friends, Foes and Good Companions" exhibition comes in.

An exhibition forming part of the IWM 14-18 Now Legacy Fund project, dealing with conflict and the displacement of people. Gina talks about her experience as a volunteer on the project.

Opening on Remembrance Day in 2023, artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman MBE created The Shining Lights of Service, a unique, multi-coloured light installation commemorating the Indian Hospital at the Royal Pavilion during the First World War. It was an IWM14-18 NOW Legacy Fund commission in partnership with Brighton & Hove Museums and in collaboration with Believe in Me CIC.