What’s it all about?
Are you involved with a First World War project? If so, we would like to invite you to share your work at our Legacies of the First World War Festival, which will be hosted by the WW1 Engagement Centres and held across the UK in 2019.
Each festival will have a unique theme and will be dedicated to reflecting on public history and heritage, exploring the different types of collaborative work that has been done around WW1 subjects since 2014, and to thinking about future/potential collaborations and how community organisations and academics can continue working together to explore all aspects of the past.
We have a limited budget for bursaries to cover the costs of community organisations being able to attend and present their work. Please contact us as soon as possible if you require a bursary as these will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis.
Festivals will be held over 2 days in Birmingham, South Wales, Northern Ireland and Glasgow (please note that the Northern Ireland festival will last for 7 days). In addition, there will be a ‘Policy Breakfast’ at the start of each event, enabling funders, local politicians, community and cultural organisations, creative practitioners and academics to discuss the legacy and impact of the Engagement Centres. At each breakfast there will be a screening of a ‘Talking Heads’ film produced by the Voices of War & Peace Centre.
Each festival will enable participants and attendees to better understand the challenges and opportunities of collaborative work around history, heritage and commemoration. A series of panel discussions, informal workshops, film screenings, guided walks, and performances will provide an informal and friendly forum for stimulating conversations around co-produced knowledge and critical responses to history and heritage.
We welcome community organisers, heritage and creative workers, academics, local historians, and members of the public.
Where and when will the festivals take place?
- 22 & 23 March 2019: Birmingham, Midland Arts Centre, theme ‘Diversity’. This festival will explore the First World War and diversity in all its forms
- 18-25 May 2019: Northern Ireland (multiple venues), theme ‘Shared heritage’. This festival will explore the idea of shared heritage around WW1 commemorations
- July 2019 (dates tbc): South Wales (multiple venues), theme ‘Community activism’. This festival will explore community activism in WW1 commemorations and the impact of community-focused projects on institutions
- 30 & 31 August 2019: Glasgow, Glasgow Women’s Library, theme ‘Women and war’ This festival will look beyond the typical stories told about women’s involvement in WW1, which have tended to focus on munitions and nursing, to offer a more diverse and varied interpretation
There will be a final conference on 7 November 2019 which will explore ‘Legacy, Impact and Next Steps’
Location: Woburn House Conference Centre, Tavistock Square, London
How to get involved
Please complete the proposal form to tell us how you would like to participate. This could take the form of a 20 minute presentation about your project, a longer workshop (up to 50 minutes), a film screening, a guided walk, a short drama or music performance, or other form of presentation.
Please contact Nicola Gauld, Coordinator of the Voices of War & Peace Centre with any questions about your proposal or about the availability of bursaries, n.gauld@bham.ac.uk
Your proposal should be submitted to Nicola by 1 October 2018. The festival planning group will contact you as soon as possible after that date to discuss your proposal.
About the Centres
In 2014 five WW1 Engagement Centres were established by the Arts & Humanities Research Council through a joint initiative between the cross-Council Connected Communities Programme and AHRC’s Care for the Future theme. These Centres have supported a wide range of community engagement activities, connecting academic and public histories of the First World War during its centenary period. A key focus of the Centres has been to provide UK-wide support for community groups funded by Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) funding programmes, via the ‘First World War: Then and Now’ grant scheme.
