The Imperial War Museum, London: A Century of Reinvention
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: School of Humanities
Abstract
The project is designed to redress the fact that there is as yet no substantial history of the Imperial War Museum. Founded in 1917 to commemorate the First World War, the museum has developed in response to a century of continual warfare. It is now an institution of international importance, with an acclaimed exhibitions programme and superb collections, including one of the best collections of twentieth-century British art in the world. As it prepares to mark its centenary, and to initiate a programme of new displays at the London site, the lack of proper research into its history has become a serious handicap. The studentship will answer this pressing need for an extended analysis of display practice and policy at the London museum over the past hundred years.
The project takes as its starting point the contrast between the apparent solidity of the institution (housed magnificently in the former premises of Bedlam) and the process of constant change which it has undergone. It invites the student to pursue various research questions concerning exhibiting at the museum, which may include but are not limited to: curatorial responses to successive conflicts and to shifting attitudes to war; the changing use of space at the London museum in its various locations; how the museum has treated the eclectic nature of its collection, which combines military artefacts and fine-art displays; and the museum's place among the growing number and sophistication of memorials and war museums internationally. The specific lines of enquiry and eventual argument will emerge from the student's archival researches.
The student will work closely with museum staff to develop a project which will feed in to the museum's ongoing review of its displays. S/he will contribute to the gathering of material for an oral history of the museum and to a new online centenary exhibition, thereby helping to create, as well as to analyse, the museum's history and collections. The thematic nature of the museum's collection makes it ideal for cross-disciplinary analysis. The project will benefit academics working in a number of fields, including museum studies, war studies and the history of art, all of which are research strengths at the University of Bristol. The writing up and dissemination of the project will function at several levels, including the online exhibition and a publication for general readership, in addition to the thesis and resulting academic publications.
The project takes as its starting point the contrast between the apparent solidity of the institution (housed magnificently in the former premises of Bedlam) and the process of constant change which it has undergone. It invites the student to pursue various research questions concerning exhibiting at the museum, which may include but are not limited to: curatorial responses to successive conflicts and to shifting attitudes to war; the changing use of space at the London museum in its various locations; how the museum has treated the eclectic nature of its collection, which combines military artefacts and fine-art displays; and the museum's place among the growing number and sophistication of memorials and war museums internationally. The specific lines of enquiry and eventual argument will emerge from the student's archival researches.
The student will work closely with museum staff to develop a project which will feed in to the museum's ongoing review of its displays. S/he will contribute to the gathering of material for an oral history of the museum and to a new online centenary exhibition, thereby helping to create, as well as to analyse, the museum's history and collections. The thematic nature of the museum's collection makes it ideal for cross-disciplinary analysis. The project will benefit academics working in a number of fields, including museum studies, war studies and the history of art, all of which are research strengths at the University of Bristol. The writing up and dissemination of the project will function at several levels, including the online exhibition and a publication for general readership, in addition to the thesis and resulting academic publications.
Planned Impact
Who will benefit from this research?
1) Policy makers
a. Government policy makers responsible for museums
b. Government policy makers responsible for the recording and commemoration of conflict, including Ministry of Defence
2) The public
a. Visitors to the Imperial War Museum
b. Members of the local community
c. Educators, particularly those taking groups around the museum or otherwise teaching its history
3) The museum world
a. Museum directors and curators seeking to establish new war museums and memorials
b. Other museums and galleries researching their own history
4) Parties involved with the Imperial War Museum
a. Members and veterans of the armed forces and their associates concerned with recording and commemorating conflict
b. Donors to and benefactors of the museum
c. Museum staff and members of the public who have contributed to the museum's history, and may be able to provide fresh information
d. Museum staff working on the redevelopment of Imperial War Museum London, rethinking display and learning approaches
How will they benefit from this research?
1) Policy makers will be better informed about the changing purposes of the Imperial War Museum and how these might inform future planning.
2) The public will have an enriched experience of the museum, informed by a better understanding of how the collections were acquired and the decisions contributing to their display.
3) Other museums will be able to use the project as a model for researching their own history. Curators seeking to establish new museums and displays will be better informed about the range of approaches adopted by the Imperial War Museum, and the need for flexibility in responding to changing public perceptions of war.
4) With increased understanding of how the Museum has approached its remit at different points in its history, staff will be better placed to formulate and refine new displays, and understand current approaches to interpretation. Parties involved with the museum will see their contributions recognised and made public, and situated in the larger history of the museum. They may feel encouraged to become further involved.
What will be done to ensure that they benefit from this research?
1) The results of the project will be made available and accessible to the public (including museum visitors, those involved with the armed forces, local residents and educators) through an online exhibition which can be accessed remotely as well as in the museum and will be developed during the final year of the PhD in 2014. A printed publication, adapted from the thesis for a public readership, will be prepared after submission and made available in the shop in the time for the museum's centenary in 2017 (three years after the completion of the PhD).
2) The project will be advertised to the wider museum world (including other institutions engaged in similar projects of self-assessment, and curators in the UK and abroad seeking to develop war museums, exhibitions and memorials) through professional networks, including conferences and journals. This process of communication will take place throughout the three-year project. Interested parties may be invited to visit the museum for detailed discussion and review of the findings.
3) The research will support the Museum's need for constant re-appraisal of its role and the history it represents. This will underpin its corporate planning and development proposals which will feed into relevant government agencies. It will underpin the funding campaigns that will enable the next stage of redevelopment, and will inform the design and display strategies in the new building. It was also assist in shaping how IWM sets a wider public agenda for responses to major anniversaries.
4) As part of its centenary plans, the Museum will be exploring the poss
1) Policy makers
a. Government policy makers responsible for museums
b. Government policy makers responsible for the recording and commemoration of conflict, including Ministry of Defence
2) The public
a. Visitors to the Imperial War Museum
b. Members of the local community
c. Educators, particularly those taking groups around the museum or otherwise teaching its history
3) The museum world
a. Museum directors and curators seeking to establish new war museums and memorials
b. Other museums and galleries researching their own history
4) Parties involved with the Imperial War Museum
a. Members and veterans of the armed forces and their associates concerned with recording and commemorating conflict
b. Donors to and benefactors of the museum
c. Museum staff and members of the public who have contributed to the museum's history, and may be able to provide fresh information
d. Museum staff working on the redevelopment of Imperial War Museum London, rethinking display and learning approaches
How will they benefit from this research?
1) Policy makers will be better informed about the changing purposes of the Imperial War Museum and how these might inform future planning.
2) The public will have an enriched experience of the museum, informed by a better understanding of how the collections were acquired and the decisions contributing to their display.
3) Other museums will be able to use the project as a model for researching their own history. Curators seeking to establish new museums and displays will be better informed about the range of approaches adopted by the Imperial War Museum, and the need for flexibility in responding to changing public perceptions of war.
4) With increased understanding of how the Museum has approached its remit at different points in its history, staff will be better placed to formulate and refine new displays, and understand current approaches to interpretation. Parties involved with the museum will see their contributions recognised and made public, and situated in the larger history of the museum. They may feel encouraged to become further involved.
What will be done to ensure that they benefit from this research?
1) The results of the project will be made available and accessible to the public (including museum visitors, those involved with the armed forces, local residents and educators) through an online exhibition which can be accessed remotely as well as in the museum and will be developed during the final year of the PhD in 2014. A printed publication, adapted from the thesis for a public readership, will be prepared after submission and made available in the shop in the time for the museum's centenary in 2017 (three years after the completion of the PhD).
2) The project will be advertised to the wider museum world (including other institutions engaged in similar projects of self-assessment, and curators in the UK and abroad seeking to develop war museums, exhibitions and memorials) through professional networks, including conferences and journals. This process of communication will take place throughout the three-year project. Interested parties may be invited to visit the museum for detailed discussion and review of the findings.
3) The research will support the Museum's need for constant re-appraisal of its role and the history it represents. This will underpin its corporate planning and development proposals which will feed into relevant government agencies. It will underpin the funding campaigns that will enable the next stage of redevelopment, and will inform the design and display strategies in the new building. It was also assist in shaping how IWM sets a wider public agenda for responses to major anniversaries.
4) As part of its centenary plans, the Museum will be exploring the poss
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Grace Brockington (Principal Investigator) |