Home of the Infantry Regiments of Berkshire and Wiltshire
Opening of the Exhibition 'A View of the Great War'
Claire Perry MP opened a new exhibition at the Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum on Friday 1st August. Entitled ‘A View of the Great War’, the exhibition shows the artwork created by children from two local schools, Avon Valley College, Durrington and Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury. Also in attendance were, the artist in residence for the month who worked with the school children, Henny Burnett, Manager/Curator Simon Cook and Pamela Glintenkamp, Project Manager from the National Portrait Gallery. The children who took part and created the artwork and their parents were among the invited guests.
The Museum took part in a project with the National Portrait Gallery and a company called Media 19 called National Memory Local Stories. The project was funded by The Paul Hamlyn Foundation Arts Programme and gave young people the opportunity to learn about World War One through their examination of some of the records kept in the archives of the Museum, and some of the objects and photographs in the Museum’s Collection. Other museums that took part were The National Museum of Scotland, The National Museum of Wales, The National Museum of Northern Ireland and The Redbridge Museum.
Museum staff and volunteers Michael Cornwell and Martyn McIntyre, and artist in residence for the month, Henny Burnett worked for two weeks with ten children from Avon College, Durrington and then two weeks with ten children from Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury. The results of the project can be seen on the National Portrait Gallery web site www.npg.org.uk/whatson/national-memory-local-stories/home.php