Online Exhibition Learning Project
Online Exhibition Learning Project in response to the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain in partnership with the Imperial War Museum
This collaborative digital Exhibition Learning Project explores, interprets and responds to a selection of art works that reflect upon the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.
We have brought together works from the Imperial War Museum and our own collection at The Collection and Usher Gallery to showcase and explore the huge variety of art work made during the Second World War to mark this tremendous event in British aviation history.
Over 8 weeks, we will add links from this page to online projects and learning resources created by the Investigate Learning Team.
At the culmination of the 8 weeks, this page will be archived under our website section 'Previously' and will stay available as a Learning Resource for all.
Available Online Content:
Week One: Information on the central, selected artworks is available here.
Week Two: Announcing our new Online Curatorial Project created by the Creative Collective, our young peoples group. Visit the website to see creative and curatorial reflections on selected works, including essays, films and audio plays: https://flyingintoaction.com/
Week Three: A brand new podcast produced by the Creative Collective, talking about their new Online Curatorial Project. Click here to listen
+ A brand new film and drama workshop looking at World War Two produced by Aviation Learning and Rhubarb Theatre for children, teachers and homeschoolers. Click here to watch
Week Four: We launch a brand new poetry workshop created by local poet Ash Dickinson, based on the Battle of Britain, using some of the paintings from the exhibition as his inspiration. Learn how to write a "Nonet" and get the opportunity to compose one of your very own. Watch the video here.
Week Five: Why not take a closer look at the work of the Creative Collective and their responses to the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain? Visit the website to see creative and curatorial reflections on selected works, including essays, films and audio plays: [url=https://flyingintoaction.com/]https://flyingintoaction.com/[/url]
Week Six: Step back in time to September 1939 with aviation historian Brian Riley and hear the story of The Battle of Britain, from the start of hostilities with Germany invading Poland right through to Hitler being forced to change his mind about attacking England in September 1940. Learn about the importance of radar and how this helped the RAF plan their attacks and protect their aircraft; Hitler's big mistake leading to the biggest loss of German aircraft in one day; the important role played by the British allies in helping the RAF and how the tiny fleet of fighter planes outmanoeuvred the mighty Luftwaffe. Watch the film here
Week Seven: Find out more about the responses to the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain created by our young people's group, the Creative Collective, via this link.
Week Eight: We wanted to show you behind the scenes in our new Exhibition Learning Project film. Collaborating with both the Imperial War Museum and our Creative Collective for this project has been really exciting and we are showcasing, in the first of our two project films, how we brought the digital interpretation to life!
Working across the teams has been really inspirational, find out more here.
This Online Exhibition Learning Project was initiated by the Learning and Exhibitions Teams at The Collection Museum, with support from The Mighty Creatives, Arts Council and the Imperial War Museum Battle of Britain Partnership.
Working together to provide learning experiences are:
- The Investigate Learning Team and Exhibition Team of Lincolnshire County Council
- The Creative Collective of The Collection Museum and Usher Gallery
- Paradigm Arts
- The Investigate Aviation Learning team, as part of the Arts Council Museums and Schools Project and in collaboration with the Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire Partnership.
The Imperial War Museum Battle of Britain partnership project was made possible with Art Fund support. The aim was for three Battle of Britain artworks to be displayed at four distinctive venues throughout 2020, alongside unique works from each of the partners' collections, each display exploring and illustrating a different, locally-relevant perspective on Second World War aviation.
Due to the restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, our physical exhibition and learning project was cancelled but now exists entirely online.
More information about this partnership programme can be found here.
Image credit: Art.IWM ART 17748, Untitled, c.1940, Eileen Agar, Gouache on board © The Estate of Eileen Agar / Bridgeman Images