Der preisgekrönte Fotograf Stefan Boness setzte sich in seiner langjährigen Serie „Flanders Fields“ mit den Schlachtfeldern des Ersten Weltkriegs in Flandern auseinander. Der Titel verweist auf das insbesondere in der englischsprachigen Welt bekannte Gedicht “In Flanders Fields” des kanadischen Offiziers John McCrae, sowie auf die konzeptionelle Eingrenzung auf die einstigen Schlachtfelder Belgiens. Von 2005 bis heute kehrte Boness immer wieder und bewusst zu unterschiedlichen Jahreszeiten zurück, zusammen für mehr als ein dreiviertel Jahr: „Manche Themen sind flüchtig, andere bleiben. Das ist eben ein Thema, von dem kommt man nicht los.“
On 4 March 2018 and for the third time already, the highly visitable Musée de la Grande Guerre (Europe’s largest museum dedicated on the First World War, located in Meaux close to Paris) invites to the half-day event La Grande Guerre en BD(The First World War in Comics). An impressive lineup of authors and artists of contemporary comics and graphic novels on the First World War will be present, including Fabien Bedouel, Régis Hautière, Milan Jovanovic, Kris, Maël, Marko, Alain Mounier, Olier, Patrice Ordas, Pat Perna, Ivan Stojkovic and Philippe Zytka. Read more…
The Embassador of the Slovak Republic, H.E. Peter Lizák, will give the welcome address, followed by the keynote speech “The Second Great War, 1917-1923” by the renowned historian Jay Winter.
Between 13 January and 11 February 2018, photogapher Stephan Schenk presents his most impressive cycle “Kreuzweg” (way of the cross/crossing) on the global battles of the First World War in the eponymous exhibition at gallery Kunstraum Oktogon in Berne, Switzerland.
The whole cycle consists of 14 monumental woven tapestries, based on large-format photos of First World War battle landscapes. Schenk, however, did not make classic landscape pictures, but used reduction and abstraction instead: He photographed an area of two by three metres of the respective ground – the individual fighting space of a soldier, as well as the space for being laid at rest.
My short essay “1917 – A German Perspective” about the war year of 1917 is now online on New Zealand’s official website about the First World War Centenary. For both New Zealand and Australia, the First World War is of pivotal importance for shaping the national self-concept. Other perceptions are crucial if a reduction to the own perspective is to be avoided. It has been a pleasure and honour to make a small contribution in this respect.
Works by German artists from the times of the First World War were used as illustration, mostly coming from the wonderful collection of Dr Gerhard Schneider – a sincere word of thanks for this support! Read more…
From 16 November 2017 to 30 March 2018, Jacques Grison presents his photos on the battlefield of Verdun from his series “Devant Verdun”in the eponymous exhibition in the gallery of the département’s administration in Bar-le-Duc (France) präsentieren. Since decades, Grison, who was born in the region, approaches the former battlefield through his photos: His pictures show the wounds of war, still visible in a landscape that was shaped by the fighting one hundred years ago.
Actually, there is no need to join the cavalry, but 1914-1918-online, the global online encyclopaedia on the First World War, is looking for academic contributions on further topics. It already consists of more than 1,000 high-quality, peer-reviewed articles in English from hundreds of international academic authors. Beyond the classic A-Z approach of any encyclopaedia, these open-source, but scholarly fully citable articles can be accessed via specific themes such as media or home front, through a timeline or specific regions. Hundreds of images and a truly helpful international bibliography are further assets of this unique project on the First World War.
