Major Exhibitions
5 March 2015
– 31 Aug 2015
Press View:
4 March
Tickets:
Adults £10
Concessions £7
Children (15 and under) £5
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Fashion on the Ration: 1940s Street Style
IWM London
Explore how fashion survived and even flourished under the strict rules of rationing during the Second World War in new and unexpected ways, in this major exhibition at IWM London.
Discover how men and women of Britain found new ways to dress, from adopting more casual styles to demonstrating amazing ingenuity in renovating, recycling and creating their own clothes. See uniforms and textiles from wartime Britain and discover the impact of the war on people’s lives – on what they wore, their sense of identity, and how they coped with the demands and deprivations of shortages and austerity.
11 July 2015
- Feb 2016
Press View:
9 July
Free
Horrible Histories© : Blitzed Brits
IWM North, Special Exhibitions Gallery
Marking the 75th anniversary of the Blitz during the Second World War, visitors can discover how people lived through one of the most challenging times in British history. Objects, photographs, art, film and sound recordings reveal personal stories – some on display for the first time – from IWM’s unrivalled collections, narrated with the words of Horrible Histories author Terry Deary and new animations by illustrator Martin Brown.
Discover why war was woeful for those who stayed at home and how they survived being blitzed by bombs. Step into a 1940s house, brave the Blitz experience, sniff your way through stinky smells and get hands on with intriguing interactives. Created with Horrible Histories in partnership with Scholastic Children’s books.
14 May 2015
– 30 May 2016
Press View:
12 May
Free
Peter Kennard: Unofficial War Artist
IWM London
In the first major retrospective of his work, Peter Kennard: Unofficial War Artist examines the art and practice of arguably Britain’s most important political artist.
In a career spanning 50 years Peter Kennard’s imagery has become synonymous with political activism. Working outside of the established art system, his iconic artworks have come to represent the protest movement and have inspired many of today’s politically-minded artists including Mark Wallinger and Banksy.
Visitors will learn of the artist’s motivations and methods, in particular his consistent reworking and reinterpretation of key images. Starting with his Decoration painting series (2004), the exhibition will move on to look at his seminal STOP paintings, created while still an art student in the early 1970s. It will showcase Kennard’s iconic photomontages from the 1980s, centred on the anti-nuclear campaigns of CND and the international arms trade, before concluding with a brand new art installation in which Kennard makes his own innovative and personal appraisal of his career.
15 October 2015 – 31 January 2016
Press View:
Early October (Date TBC)
Tickets information available soon. Check iwm.org.uk
Lee Miller: A Woman’s War
Sponsored by Barclays
IWM London
This major exhibition, presented by IWM London in collaboration with the Lee Miller Archive, will examine the impact of the Second World War on women’s lives as portrayed in the photography of Lee Miller, one of the most important female war photographers of the twentieth century. This will be the first exhibition to address Lee Miller’s vision of gender and will feature photographs, objects, art and personal ephemera, many of which have never been displayed before. Lee Miller: A Woman’s War will also be accompanied by a major book, published by Thames & Hudson.
Art Displays and Exhibitions
19 February 2015 – 4 May 2015
Free
IWM Contemporary: Hew Locke
IWM London
The latest show in our IWM Contemporary programme features new and existing works by artist Hew Locke, exploring and interrogating naval power. The exercise of control over sea highways which fuel trade, travel and cultural exchange, continues to define power relations between countries.
The show will feature a large scale cord and bead wall drawing created especially for the exhibition, a transformed ship model and a unique painted photograph of HMS Belfast, the Second World War cruiser on the Thames which is part of the IWM museum family.
21 February 2015 – 6 September 2016
Press View:
19 February
Free
WithDraw
IWM North, WaterWay Gallery
This small, artistic display explores the impact of British and US armed forces leaving Afghanistan in late 2014. The withdrawal is documented through new drawings by a leading illustrator. The illustrations – created in situ and on public display for the first time – explore how life continues for Afghanistan’s civilians during and after the forces’ exit.
26 March 2015
– 7 Sep 2015
Press View:
25 March
Included in HMS Belfast Ticket Prices
Hew Locke at HMS Belfast
HMS Belfast
IWM has invited artist Hew Locke to imaginatively transform the experience of HMS Belfast, bringing to life the stories of people on board the ship, exploring the joys and dangers of life at sea, through a creative and surprising art installation.
More details will be available in the new year.
2 April 2015
– 25 September 2016
Free
Visions of War Above and Below
IWM London
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries the development of flight and aerial warfare has informed and inspired new artistic perspectives.
Visions of War Above and Below shows a variety of imaginative responses to conflict, from surreal depictions of aircraft as creatures, to abstract views of bombing raids and detailed drawings of life in submarines. These artworks, spanning the First World War through to 21st century conflict, are brought together in order to present multiple viewpoints of war above and below.
Highlights from IWM’s art collection include Paul Nash’s Battle of Germany (1944) and Alison Wilding’s Drones drawings (2012), together with new additions to the collection on display for the first time. Among these is Bashar Alhroub’s Heavenly (2010), a video-work made entirely on a hand-held camera directed upwards as the artist walked through an abandoned market overlooked by Jewish settlements in Hebron in the West Bank.
4 June 2015
– 6 Sept 2015
Press View:
TBC
Free
IWM Contemporary: Imogen Stidworthy
IWM London
IWM London presents The Work v5, a sculptural sound installation by British artist Imogen Stidworthy. This piece was developed through dialogue with two former British soldiers who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and the wife of one of the soldiers, who lives with the effects of war at home. In The Work v5, Stidworthy uses the voice as a sculptural material, engrained with traces of experience.
Throughout 2015
Free
Reactions15
IWM North
IWM has been collecting and commissioning artistic responses to conflict since the First World War. This season of art installations and live performances – specially commissioned by IWM North – will unveil new and unique ways to explore the impact of the conflict on everyone involved. Throughout the year, a mix of emerging and established artists from a range of artistic disciplines will reveal new and original creations.
Holocaust Anniversary (70 years)
Monday 19 January – Saturday 31 January
Free
Holocaust Memorial Day Events
IWM North
70 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, events and displays at IWM North, will explore the theme of Keeping The Memory Alive.
On Sunday 25 January the acclaimed music ensemble, The Burning Bush, led by Lucie Skeaping, will take over IWM North’s Main Exhibition Space to perform traditional music and song from diverse Jewish cultures. Meanwhile a fortnight of storytelling for families will be accompanied by A Closer Look tours for all visitors exploring stories and objects on display, such as that of Ruth Wasserman, who came to Britain on the Kindertransport in 1939 and Leslie Hardman, Jewish Chaplain with the British Army who entered Bergen-Belsen concentration camp two days after its liberation.
All Year
Free
Recommended for children aged 14 and above
Holocaust Exhibition at IWM London
This highly-acclaimed permanent exhibition uses film, photographs and a large number of rare artefacts – many brought from Germany and Eastern Europe – to document the history of the Nazi persecution of the Jews and other groups before and during the Second World War.
The Exhibition features over 600 objects, from moving testimonies of survivors and a 13 metre long model depicting events at Auschwitz-Birkenau, through to the letters of an eight year old French Jewish boy who hid in an orphanage before his betrayal and deportation to Auschwitz.
April 2015
Dates TBC
Film Screening – German Concentration Camps Factual Survey
Following its screening at a series of internationally acclaimed film festivals, with its world premiere at Berlin and a sell-out screening at the BFI London Film Festival, IWM will be presenting the official documentary – German Concentration Camps Factual Survey – to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen.
Described by critics as ‘an impressive and important piece of filmmaking, restored with intelligence and care by the museum’, German Concentration Camps Factual Survey, a documentary about German atrocities and the concentration camps has been digitally restored to the instructions laid down by the original production team in 1945.
Major Events and Second World War Anniversaries
23 and 24 May 2015
Times and Ticket Information available soon.
Check iwm.org.uk
VE Day Anniversary Air Show
IWM Duxford
The VE Day Anniversary Air Show pays tribute to the men, women and children who endured six years of conflict on the fighting fronts and the Home Front of the Second World War.
Our flying display honours the Allied forces, and their aircraft, from across the world, which contributed towards Victory in Europe. Across IWM Duxford, we remember the fortitude of the British people on the Home Front and evoke the spirit of celebration and weary relief with which they marked VE Day.
19 and 20 September , 2015
Times and Ticket Information available soon.
Check iwm.org.uk
Battle of Britain Air Show
IWM Duxford
The Battle of Britain Anniversary Air Show commemorates the 75th anniversary of the aerial battle that proved a strategic turning point in the Second World War.
We remember RAF Duxford’s role in the Battle of Britain, as the home of the first squadron to fly Spitfires and also for some of the RAF’s best-known fighter pilots, including Douglas Bader.
We honour the men and women who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that those iconic aircraft took to the skies to continue the fight for aerial supremacy.
12 September 2015 – February 2016
Free
Mixing It (working title)
IWM North, WaterWay Gallery
On display for the first time, Mixing It will reveal the forgotten histories of service personnel who came to Britain and were stationed in North West England during the Second World War.
With large-scale movements of people to Britain – chiefly from the British Empire, Europe and America – the national and ethnic diversity of the population in Britain during the Second World War was unprecedented, but this has played little part in public memories of the conflict.
This small, powerful display will be based on the first major research project ever conducted into the cultural and social history of wartime diversity. Specially recorded oral history and new research by the University of Huddersfield in partnership with IWM, presented alongside archive material, will reveal personal stories never told publicly before.
11 and 12 July 2015
Times and Ticket Information available soon.
Check iwm.org.uk
Flying Legends Air Show
IWM Duxford
The Flying Legends Air Show is famous the world over for its unique presentations of historic piston-engined aircraft in rare combinations and remarkable flying displays. Complementing dramatic displays in the air is the authentic 1940s atmosphere that can be experienced across IWM Duxford.
The flying display promises an unmissable fusion of power, sound, excitement and nostalgia as iconic piston-engined aircraft from across the globe perform their breathtaking flights over IWM Duxford’s historic airfield.
The balbo, a massed-formation finale, featuring many of the aircraft which have taken part in the stunning flying display, is unique to the Flying Legends Air Show and a world-renowned spectacle.
Last chance to see…
Major Exhibition
Until 31 May 2015
From Street to Trench: A War That Shaped a Region
IWM North, Special Exhibitions Gallery
The largest exhibition ever created exploring the North West of England during the First World War, From Street to Trench features extraordinary and surprising personal stories – with objects never before on public display.
Discover how the society we live in today was born out of the rapid changes that resulted from the First World War. In 2015, 100 years after the landings at Gallipoli and the sinking of the Lusitania, the exhibition illustrates how the people of that region played a significant role in global events.
Major Art Exhibition
Until 8 March 2015
Truth and Memory
IWM London
Critically acclaimed Truth and Memory is the largest exhibition and first major retrospective of British First World War art for almost 100 years and includes work by some of the most important artists of the twentieth century. This exhibition, featuring over 100 works including paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings assesses the immediate impact and enduring legacy of British art of the First World War.