Archived Voices Newsletter

Voices of War & Peace First World War Engagement Centre Update
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20 October 2017 – 14 January 2018
University of Birmingham and Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery

Beyond the Battlefields is an exhibition assembled from a unique series of images made by photographer Käthe Buchler (1876-1930) before and during the First World War in Germany and which are part of the collection of the Museum of Photography, Braunschweig, where Buchler lived and worked. This is the first time that Buchler’s work has been displayed outside Germany.

There will be two exhibitions in Birmingham: at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG), focusing on Buchler’s images of women and children, and at the University of Birmingham, Aston Webb Rotunda Gallery, where her photographs of injured soldiers will be displayed alongside material relating to the University’s role as a hospital during the War.

Beyond the Battlefields is a touring exhibition co-organised by the University of Hertfordshire Galleries, Photomuseum Braunschweig and the AHRC funded First World War Engagement Centres at the University of Birmingham (www.voicesofwarandpeace.org) and the University of Hertfordshire (everydaylivesinwar.herts.ac.uk).

The exhibition will then tour to the Grosvenor Gallery, part of the Holden Gallery, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2 February – 1 March 2018 and the University of Hertfordshire Galleries, Hatfield, 15 March – 5 May 2018.

http://www.voicesofwarandpeace.org/voices-activity/beyond-the-battlefields/

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Events programme November – December 2017

Workshop: Project planning around women, war & photography
Saturday 4 November, 13.00-16.00
Library of Birmingham, Wolfson Research Centre
This session will focus on the experiences of women and children during conflict. We will explore the archive collections and look at some examples of projects that have worked on this subject area. There will also be time at the end of the session to visit the exhibition at BMAG with the exhibition curators.

Please contact Nicola Gauld, Voices Centre Coordinator, for more information or to book a place:n.gauld@bham.ac.uk, 0121 464 3209

Walk: University History and Architecture: the war years (1914-1945)
Monday 13 November, 12.45-13.30
University of Birmingham
Join Research and Cultural Collections as we explore the history of the University through the war years. On this tour you will find out about the University’s role during the world wars and how staff and students alike contributed to the war effort. Your journey will be guided by key architectural features and objects cared for by the Research and Cultural Collections.
The tour will start at 12.45, and the meeting point is the ‘Old Joe’ Clock Tower. Please arrive at 12.35 to ensure that the tour can start promptly.

To book a place please visit Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/university-history-and-architecture-the-war-years-1914-1945-tickets-36746689337
 
Symposium: Beyond the Battlefields: Women & Photography in WW1 
Saturday 18 November, 11.00-16.30
Library of Birmingham, Heritage Learning Space
Beyond the Battlefields: women and photography in WW1 symposium will explore the role of women photographers across Europe during the Great War. There will be an opportunity at the end of the event to visit the exhibition at BMAG with the exhibition curators.

This event is part of the Being Human festival, the UK’s only national festival of the humanities, taking place 17–25 November. For further information please see https://beinghumanfestival.org/

To book a place please visit https://beinghumanfestival.org/event/beyond-the-battlefields-women-and-photography-in-ww1/
 
Workshop: Pinhole Photography
Saturday 25 November, 12.30-15.30
Aston Webb Great Hall, University of Birmingham 
Photographic artist and educator, Jo Gane, leads this workshop exploring analogue photography techniques. Attendees will use recycled materials to construct a working analogue pinhole camera which can be used to photograph the Aston Webb Building and objects from the Research and Cultural Collections, exploring links to the history of the University during the First World War. Analogue negative images will be made on silver gelatin paper that will be processed during the workshop using a small portable darkroom, then ‘printed’ using your own smartphone technology.
During the workshop participants will have the opportunity to visit the exhibition in the Rotunda Gallery.

For more information and to book a place please visit Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/beyond-the-battlefields-pinhole-photography-workshop-tickets-38494318543
 
Workshop: Project planning around WW1, medicine/injuries & photography
Thursday 30 November, 17.30-19.00
University of Birmingham, Cadbury Research Library Seminar Room 
This session will focus on the experiences of injured soldiers and the staff who treated them. The session will explore the Cadbury Research Library’s collection and look at some examples of projects that have worked on this subject area. There will also be time at the start of the session to visit the exhibition in the Rotunda Gallery with the exhibition curators.

Please contact Nicola Gauld, Voices Centre Coordinator, for more information or to book a place:n.gauld@bham.ac.uk, 0121 464 3209
 
Symposium: Birmingham &  the Great War: medicine/trauma/injury 
Saturday 9 December, 10.30-16.30
University of Birmingham, Cadbury Research Library Seminar Room 
This symposium will explore the role that the University of Birmingham played during the Great War and the impact that it had on staff and students. It will also more widely explore the impact of injury on servicemen, both during and after the conflict. There will be an opportunity at the end of the event to visit the exhibition at the Rotunda Gallery with the exhibition curators.

For more information and to book a place please visit Eventbrite:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/birmingham-the-great-war-medicine-trauma-injury-tickets-36744031387
All photographs by Käthe Buchler: Self-portrait, c.1905; Children from the A.V.G. with Pickelhaube (spiked helmet) in front of a puppet theatre on Hindenburg’s birthday; Woman train conductors.
 © Estate of Käthe Buchler - Museum für Photographie Braunschweig/Deposit Stadtarchiv Braunschweig
 
 
And remember to check out our website to find out more about the work that we're doing: www.voicesofwarandpeace.org
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Voices of War & Peace First World War Engagement Centre Update
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There are a number of exciting WW1 related events happening in Birmingham in the lead up to the 100th anniversary of the Armistice on 11 November...
 

Thursday 1 November, 11.30am-12.30pm & 3-4pm 
The Play House presents Lest We Forget
The Gallery, Library of Birmingham
Free admission but need to book: eventbrite.com/e/the-play-house-presents-lest-we-forget-tickets

Thursday 1 November, 7.30pm 

Remembering the Great War, An Evening of Words and Music
Great Hall, Aston Webb building, University of Birmingham
Information: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/lcahm/departments/music/events/2018/autumn/remembering-the-great-war
Tickets: boxoffice.bham.ac.uk/ 


Saturday 3 November, 4-6pm
AFTERMATH: animations exploring war, conflict and loss by Animate Projects 
Centrala
158 Fazeley Street, Birmingham, B5 5RT

Free admission but need to bookhttps://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/aftermath-animations-exploring-war-conflict-and-loss-tickets

Saturday 3 November to Saturday 10 November 10am-4pm
Birmingham at War 1914-1918

Oratory Church, Upper Cloister, Hagley Road, Birmingham, B16 8UE
Guided tours for school parties are free of charge but booking required. To book please contact: Norman Bartlam brewusbugle@hotmail.co.uk
For all other enquiries please contact Paul Jaques: paul.jaques@mypostoffice.co.uk
Free admission

Please visit the Voices website for more information on other events being held across Birmingham to commemorate the end of the First World War: http://www.voicesofwarandpeace.org/voices-activity/voices-of-the-first-world-war/

 
 
 
 
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Welcome to the Voices of War & Peace WW1 Engagement Centre update
 
WW1 Today: For community groups planning First World War projects
Tuesday 12 December 2017 11.00 – 15.30
Heritage Learning Space, Floor 4, Library of Birmingham

The WW1 Engagement Centres are holding a series of events in partnership with the HLF to share best practice across WW1 projects.
Come along and you can:
  • Start planning a WW1 project
  • Have the opportunity to network with other organisations working on WW1 projects (including over a free lunch!)
  • Share information about the interesting things that you have found while working on your project
  • Find out how the WW1 Engagement Centres can help your project
  • Hear funding and evaluation hints and tips from the experts
  • Feel inspired to start thinking about your next project!
This free event is aimed at any community groups who have an idea for a First World War project, regardless of its scale, the stage of development it has reached, or whether you have funding, or for groups planning a second application. Groups who have successfully completed HLF-funded projects will talk about their experiences of developing and running them, and expert advice will be on hand from the WW1 engagement centre teams to assist participants in developing their projects. Advisers from the HLF will talk through some of the practical aspects of applying, and there will be a forum for individuals and groups to discuss their ideas.
Attendance is free but booking is essential.
Please contact Nicola Gauld, Coordinator for the Voices of War & Peace Engagement Centre, if you are interested in attending, n.gauld@bham.ac.uk
 
The Centres can cover reasonable travel expenses.
       
Programme
11:00 Registration, tea and coffee
11:20 Welcome and Housekeeping
11:30 Presentations from Community Heritage Groups / film screenings
12:30 Questions and discussion
13:00 Networking Lunch
13:30 How can the Heritage Lottery Fund help you?
13.50 How can the WW1 Engagement Centres help you?
14:10 Questions and discussion
14.30 Chance to visit exhibition Beyond the Battlefields: Käthe Buchler’s Photographs of Germany in the Great War (co-curated by the Voices & Everyday Lives Centres) at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (further information here: http://www.voicesofwarandpeace.org/voices-activity/beyond-the-battlefields/)
 

Conference: Voices of women in the Great War and its aftermath 
The Black Country Living Museum
13-14 April 2018


SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS
Although the Great War is often seen as a time of change, offering new opportunities for women and culminating in the extension of the franchise to many in 1918, the conflict was not experienced in the same way by all. Class, region, age and marital status all shaped women’s lives during the war and after.

Working opportunities on the land, in munitions, clerical work, transport services and the armed forces gave young women in particular a chance to experience a modicum of freedom.

The majority of women were housewives in wartime, supporting and worrying about their loved ones in the armed forces and undertaking voluntary work. The war created new problems as women struggled to feed their families, care for children and make ends meet; struggles which often continued in the inter-war years.

This conference seeks to explore the multiplicity of women’s voices during the Great War and in the years that followed. It will look at the mundane and the extraordinary, the domestic and working worlds, the political and private, in order critically to examine elements of continuity and change and to consider what was to become the legacy of the Great War for women.

Contributions are invited from those working in universities, museums, community history, archives and independently for contributions of papers, panels, posters or exhibitions for this conference.

Abstracts for papers should be no more that 300 words long, and 150 words for posters. If you wish to put together a panel of 3-4 people then please provide an overall title and 100 word explanation for the panel. If you are interested in putting on an exhibition please send an email outlining your requirements and plans. All correspondence via email by 1 January 2018 to maggie.andrews@worc.ac.uk

 

Beyond the Battlefields: Käthe Buchler’s Photographs of Germany in the Great War
20 October 2017 – 14 January 2018
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
University of Birmingham, Rotunda Gallery, Aston Webb 

Workshop: Pinhole Photography
Saturday 25 November, 12.30-15.30
Aston Webb Great Hall, University of Birmingham 
Photographic artist and educator, Jo Gane, leads this workshop exploring analogue photography techniques. Attendees will use recycled materials to construct a working analogue pinhole camera which can be used to photograph the Aston Webb Building and objects from the Research and Cultural Collections, exploring links to the history of the University during the First World War. Analogue negative images will be made on silver gelatin paper that will be processed during the workshop using a small portable darkroom, then ‘printed’ using your own smartphone technology.
During the workshop participants will have the opportunity to visit the exhibition in the Rotunda Gallery.

For more information and to book a place please visit Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/beyond-the-battlefields-pinhole-photography-workshop-tickets-38494318543
 
Workshop: Project planning around WW1, medicine/injuries & photography
Thursday 30 November, 17.30-19.00
University of Birmingham, Cadbury Research Library Seminar Room 
This session will focus on the experiences of injured soldiers and the staff who treated them. The session will explore the Cadbury Research Library’s collection and look at some examples of projects that have worked on this subject area. There will also be time at the start of the session to visit the exhibition in the Rotunda Gallery with the exhibition curators.

Please contact Nicola Gauld, Voices Centre Coordinator, for more information or to book a place:n.gauld@bham.ac.uk, 0121 464 3209
 
Symposium: Birmingham &  the Great War: medicine/trauma/injury 
Saturday 9 December, 10.30-16.30
University of Birmingham, Cadbury Research Library Seminar Room 
This symposium will explore the role that the University of Birmingham played during the Great War and the impact that it had on staff and students. It will also more widely explore the impact of injury on servicemen, both during and after the conflict. There will be an opportunity at the end of the event to visit the exhibition at the Rotunda Gallery with the exhibition curators.

For more information and to book a place please visit Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/birmingham-the-great-war-medicine-trauma-injury-tickets-36744031387


Beyond the Battlefields is a touring exhibition co-organised by the University of Hertfordshire Galleries, Photomuseum Braunschweig and the AHRC funded First World War Engagement Centres at the University of Birmingham (www.voicesofwarandpeace.org)  and the University of Hertfordshire (https://everydaylivesinwar.herts.ac.uk). It will tour to the Holden Gallery, Manchester Metropolitan University from 2 February – 1 March 2018 and the University of Hertfordshire Galleries from 15 March – 5 May 2018.

Image: Nurse with patient and Christmas tree in the military hospital, 1914-1918
© Estate of Käthe Buchler - Museum für Photographie Braunschweig/Deposit Stadtarchiv Braunschweig

 

WW1 project advice sessions

Thinking of applying to the Heritage Lottery Fund for support with a project about the First World War? Need some help or advice? Come and discuss your ideas with Nicola Gauld, Coordinator of the Voices of War & Peace WW1 Engagement Centre & Elise Turner, HLF Development Officer. They can offer advice on the area that you want to explore, the types of things you might do in the project, the people you might work with and on project planning.

Please note that the sessions are aimed at groups and organisations that are currently working on an Expression of Interest or full application for the HLF’s First World War: Then and Now programme.

The last meeting of 2017 will be held on December 5, 4-6pm

We can offer a half hour slot in the first instance and then arrange a follow up meeting where necessary.

All meetings will take place in the Heritage Learning Room on Floor 4 of the Library of Birmingham. Please contact Nicola to book your slot: n.gauld@bham.ac.uk or 0121 464 3209

Dates for 2018 will be announced soon 

 
 
 
 
 
 
The Indian Army in the First World War: An Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Perspective

The Voices centre recently awarded funding to the Soldiers of Oxfordshire (SOFO) Museum and Oxford University’s History Faculty for their project The Indian Army in the First World War: An Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Perspective. The volunteers and researchers are together studying SOFO’s previously unseen military heritage collections relating to the Indian Army’s activities in Mesopotamia (Iraq) in 1914-18, and connecting this with wider questions about the local, global and imperial dimensions of the First World War. 

The findings of the project will be showcased in an engaging and exciting travelling exhibition, which will highlight the shared history of British and Indian involvement in the First World War. The exhibition will explore the experiences of Indian and British soldiers through a collection of photographs from SOFO’s archives that have not been publicly displayed before, together with other fascinating objects from the museum. The team has also launched an appeal for members of the public (particularly from the British Asian community) to come forward with family stories or memorabilia that can be featured in the exhibition too. In doing so, the project aims to a present a fascinating range of new and perhaps challenging narratives that will connect local history with wider issues of empire and war for the first time.

If you have any stories, objects or picture to share then please get in touch with the project organisers, Priya Atwal and Stephen Barker at sofoindianarmy@gmail.com.

The exhibition will on display at the following museums: 

Wycombe Museum: 6 November - 30 November 2017
Banbury Museum: 6 December 2017 – 8 January 2018
Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum: 1 April - 30 April 2018

 

New book: First World War Military Service Tribunals, Warwick District Appeal Tribunal, 1916-1918
Edited by Philip & Julie Spinks

The story of those who volunteered to serve in the army in the First World War is a familiar one. Less well known is the fact that, once conscription had been introduced, millions of men attempted to have their call-up deferred. In 1921 the government ordered the destruction of the records of the network of tribunals set up to deal with these appeals. However, the papers of the Warwick District Appeal Tribunal survived this fate. Recently discovered, they are now fully catalogued in this new publication, providing details of close on 1,000 south Warwickshire cases heard by the Warwick Appeal Tribunal which sat at the Shire Hall in Warwick. They concern not only objections on grounds of conscience (of which there were very few) but also claims for exemption on grounds of illness or hardship, or because it was thought the national interest would be better served if the appellants remained in civilian employment.

Cost £30 + £3 p&p for UK addresses

Please contact the Dugdale Society for more information: http://www.dugdale-society.org.uk/Index.html

 
1918-2018: An International Conference 
The End of the War & the Reshaping of a Century
University of Wolverhampton, 6-8 September 2018

This international conference will be hosted by the Centre for Historical Research at the University of Wolverhampton in collaboration with the Western Front Association and the FWW Network for Early Career & Postgraduate Researchers.

The event will spotlight the latest research on the events of 1918 as well as the global significances, consequences and legacy of this watershed year.

It seeks to encourage international perspectives and to encompass a wide range of historical approaches as well as cross-disciplinary insights. It will feature keynote addresses from some of the leading academic authorities on the First World War and what came afterwards, along with panel sessions from established and emerging researchers. The event is being developed collaboratively with heritage agencies, museums, art galleries, funders, local schools and community groups involved in First World War research, remembrance and events.

We ask you to ‘Save the Date’ and we invite expressions of interests from scholars (including early career and postgraduate researchers), independent researchers, organisations, groups, schools and individuals interested in participation (as contributors or attendees) in the conference.

Please visit the website for the call for papers and more information:http://www.wlv.ac.uk/research/institutes-and-centres/centre-for-historical-research/centre-for-historical-research--events/1918---2018-an-international-conference/

 
Reflections on the Centenary of the First World War Survey
Learning and Legacies for the Future

Between 2014 and 2018 Britain, together with many other nations, is commemorating the centenary of the First World War – the first ‘total’ war of the 20th century – the legacies of which live on in a range of institutional, educational, geographic, political, social and cultural forms. At the outset of the centenary, a particular ‘cultural memory’ of the war dominated in Britain, one described by the then Education Minister Michael Gove as a ‘Blackadder myth…designed to belittle Britain and its leaders’ (Daily Mail, 2 January 2014).

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), over the course of three years (2017 – 2020) this project sets out to both evaluate the extent to which the range of commemorative activities undertaken since 2014 has engaged with, challenged, or changed this ‘myth’, and the experience and outcomes of projects that are built on academic-public engagement and the co-production of knowledge, especially those involving the AHRC World War One Engagement Centres.

The three main aims of this research project are:

  1. to evaluate activities during the centenary period of the First World War in the United Kingdom in order to trace and analyse shifting patterns of cultural memory;
  2. to evaluate these activities in order to assess how successful they have been in involving diverse members of the community in their production and reception;
  3. and to consider the lessons and legacies of these projects for a range of stakeholders involved in planning for future anniversaries and events.

For all enquiries about the Reflections on the Centenary of the First World War project, please contact the Project PI, Professor Lucy Noakes: l.noakes@essex.ac.uk

To complete the survey please visit the website: http://reflections1418.exeter.ac.uk/ 
 
 
 
And remember to check out our website to find out more about the work that we're doing: www.voicesofwarandpeace.org
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Voices of War & Peace First World War Engagement Centre Update
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Legacies of the First World War Festival  
22 & 23 March
Midlands Arts Centre

Legacies of the First World War Festival is hosted by the Arts & Humanities Research Council WW1 Engagement Centres.

The Diversity festival in Birmingham on March 22 & 23 will be dedicated to reflecting on public history and heritage with a focus on diverse stories, exploring the different types of collaborative work that has been done around WW1 subjects since 2014, and to thinking about future/potential collaborations and how community organisations and academics can continue working together to explore all aspects of the past.

The festival will enable participants and attendees to better understand the challenges and opportunities of collaborative work around history, heritage and commemoration. A series of panel discussions, informal workshops, film screenings, and performances will provide an informal and friendly forum for stimulating conversations around co-produced knowledge and critical responses to history and heritage.

We welcome community organisers, heritage and creative workers, academics, local historians, and members of the public.

For more information and to register please visit our Eventbrite page:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/voices-of-war-amp-peace-first-world-war-engagement-centre-6924527751

And remember to check out our website to find out more about the work that we're doing: www.voicesofwarandpeace.org

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