National Army Museum’s Conflicts of Interest gallery nominated for prestigious Art Fund Prize
The National Army Museum is pleased to announce that its newest gallery Conflicts of Interest, which explores over four decades of action on the World stage by the modern British Army, has been long listed for the prestigious Art Fund award with 11 other museums and galleries .
Opened in September 2009, Conflicts of Interest looks beyond the media headlines and explores conflicting interests of enforcing peace through a violent means, balancing global security with the needs of vulnerable communities and the demands of the job on the personal lives of our troops.
The gallery examines the role of the British Army in conflicts including Afghanistan, Iraq, Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone and Kosovo, as well as pressing issues facing the military today. Objects from the Museum’s Collection are interwoven with media coverage and evocative images of the conflicts as well as personal accounts from the civilians and servicemen and women involved.
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The Art Fund 2010 website
Conflicts of Interest is an exhibition that captures history as it happens, and is updated regularly by the Museum to reflect the current nature of some of the conflicts. A survey commissioned by the Museum in 2009 revealed the UK’s differing attitudes towards the British Army’s involvement in recent conflicts, and the exhibition gives space for visitors to feedback their thoughts and opinions.
This is the second time in two years that National Army Museum exhibitions have been long listed for the prestigious award. In 2008, the Museum was nominated for the temporary exhibition Helmand: The Soldiers’ Story which told the story of the British troops who entered Afghanistan’s Helmand province.
Mairead O’Hara, curator of Conflicts of Interest said, "We are delighted to be nominated for the Art Fund Prize. It was important for us to create a gallery that examines contemporary conflicts from many perspectives. The greatest challenge was to design a living, evolving gallery that could reflect developments in the stories of today’s soldiers. Judging by the public’s response, Conflicts of Interest, has proved to be a vital space for the discussion of contemporary conflicts".
This year the Art Fund Prize will be will be running an online ‘people’s choice’ poll where the public get their chance to vote for their favourite museum on the long list at www.artfundprize.org.uk/vote
