Conclusion

Conclusion

Recap of Exhibit Methodology:

Every single piece of Canadian war art, whether commissioned by the Canadian War Memorials Fund or independently created, deserves a special place in Canadian material culture and history. War art is a unique form of material history because it captures wartime moments that would otherwise never have been preserved in visual form. Different from photographs and videos, war art relies on the artist to re-capture the texture, tones, and emotional stakes of a given scene starting with nothing but a blank canvas. The individual artistic style of the artist always enhances the material richness and unique quality of a given piece; it is these features of war art that this exhibit intends to highlight. 

It was during The Great War that Canada’s first organised effort to create and preserve war art began. Canada led in its endeavour to record the nation’s wartime experience in the form of paintings and influenced other allied countries to do the same. As a result of the Canadian War Memorials Fund, Canada boasts an extensive and impressive collection of wartime artwork consisting of nearly 1000 pieces. This exhibit sets out to introduce viewers to a small portion of Canada’s war art collection in hopes of inspiring viewers to undertake their own adventure in the world of war art. 

In order to sift through the countless pieces of war art and establish a sense of order to the exhibit itself, I created categories dedicated to different elements of Canada’s WWI experience. By focusing on a limited number of paintings, the exhibit’s primary intention is to extract as much historical context as possible from each featured piece. Delving into the history embedded in each painting, as well as the backgrounds and intentions of the artists themselves, serves to magnify the historicity and provenance that material artefacts carry with them.     

By selecting two pieces for each Western Front category, the exhibit allows viewers to compare and contrast each piece in order to gain an understanding of the impressive variety of war art that exists. The compare and contrast element of this exhibit also attempts to incorporate an individualistic interactive element in which viewers can analyse each piece for themselves and draw their own conclusions about each work. 

Highlighting the experience of women, either as artists or as part of the war effort, attempts to bring a sense of balance to the exhibit. Some of the most famous pieces of war art focus on the heroism and valour of men in battle; while this is certainly an important aspect of the exhibit, it is so important to draw attention to the heroism and valour of women during WWI, as well as the talent and perseverance of female wartime artists. Whether on the homefront or battlefront, women played a necessary role in sustaining the war effort. In front of the canvass, women also played a critical role in capturing Canada’s wartime experience. Where there is success, there is adversity, and this holds true for wartime female artists who faced barriers throughout their careers. 

Ultimately, this exhibit hopes to instil in viewers a sense of honour and pride in Canada’s WWI legacy.

Omeka Assessment: 

Given that the topic of war art contains highly visual elements, the need to include images of the art in an organised manner was crucial. Omeka provided a user-friendly medium wherein the placement of each image, and the related text could be strategically placed to allow for a seamless flow of information. Although this information could have been incorporated into a paper, this would have created a very linear flow of information that would have made it difficult to present the viewer with a simultaneous view of the featured paintings as well as their associated information. Instead, Omeka allows for the viewer to control and personalise their journey through the topic. The exhibit format lays out the entire structure of the topic and provides the viewer with the opportunity to navigate the subject in any order they see fit. Perhaps the viewer is eager to learn about women at war. Rather than having to scroll through a paper in search of their desired topic, the exhibit format allows for the viewer to seamlessly transition from section to section without distraction or difficulty. 

While walking through the Canadian War Museum, I found myself particularly drawn to the war art placed throughout the exhibit. Each piece of art included a plaque with information about the scene and artist. However, I found myself wanting to know more about the background of each artist as well as the deeper historical context behind each painting. It was this experience that inspired me to focus on the topic of war art and implement it into an online exhibit. In order to delve into the deeper historical context of each featured piece, related primary and secondary sources are necessary. For example, when featuring a battle scene depicting a real-life individual, the ability to include the portrait photo or the identity papers of that given individual alongside the painting helps to inspire a greater sense of reality for the viewer. Alternatively, the ability to embed a pdf document of a written historical account alongside a painting that depicts the same event conveys to the viewer that artwork is not just a meaningless concoction of colours, but rather, it is equivalent to a historical account in visual form. 

Omeka was much more user-friendly than I originally anticipated. Of course, with anything new, there are always challenges. I spent countless hours working on this exhibit because it was a topic that I became increasingly passionate about. I am happy with the outcome of the exhibit considering the amount of effort I put into it. Having said this, more time would have granted me the ability to make the exhibit more extensive to include more pieces of artwork and delve even deeper into each of their histories. Perhaps this is a topic I will continue to focus on in the future. If I choose to further my studies in history, particularly art history, the work I have undertaken in this exhibit will serve as an invaluable starting point.  

In conclusion, this project has taught me the ways in which technology can be used to further enhance the study of history in an ever-digital world.