The following is a cross-post from the Picture This: Library of Congress Prints and Photos blog. The post is authored by Barbara Orbach Natanson, Head of Reference services for the Library’s Prints & Photographs Division.
Pictures can eloquently convey some of the ugliness of war. Creating art can also be a powerful means of communicating the experience of war and coping with war trauma.
On Thursday, January 22nd, Tara Tappert, an independent scholar who has spent the past twelve months as a David B. Larson Fellow in Health & Spirituality at the John W. Kluge Center, will examine how and why medical institutions and social organizations embraced arts and crafts making in the aftermath of war in a talk entitled, “Art from War: Documenting Devastation/Realizing Restoration.” Using examples from her research in Library of Congress visual and textual collections, Tappert will explore how two distinctly different artistic approaches to the experiences of war trauma-documentation and restoration-can be traced to the devastation of World War I.
The talk is being co-sponsored by the Library’s John W. Kluge Center, Veterans History Project and the Prints and Photographs Division. A display of items from both collections will accompany the lecture. All are welcome to attend; no registration is necessary.
What: “ART FROM WAR: Documenting Devastation/Realizing Restoration” (talk by Tara Tappert, Larson Fellow at The John W. Kluge Center)
When: Thursday, January 22, at 4:00 p.m
Where: Library of Congress Jefferson Building, Room 119 [view map]
Learn More:
- Explore pictures that document the activities of disabled veterans of many wars.
- Victor Lundy filled eight sketchbooks with drawings of his observations as a soldier in World War II; he later became a prominent architect. View the sketchbooks digitized from Prints & Photographs Division holdings, and learn more about Lundy’s war service from documentation in the Veterans History Project .
- Have a look at our overview of Prints & Photographs Divison holdings relating to World War I, which includes search tips and related resources.
Comments (3)
I am a British Army veteran, i served tours in Northern Ireland during the troubles,in some situations i had never been so frightened in my life.
coping with always being on duty, and in areas that the police wouldnt go into,and riot situations.The expieriences have never left me, and for years after i was dicharged from the Army i followed events there.
The wars and combat that US soldiers have been engaged in and the terrible wounds they have suffered,has caused me some distress for them,especialy the brain trauma, and that so many have failed in society after discharge,homeless, PTSD causing then a lack of quality of life. young people who have seen more combat than veterans of the second world war.In an instant they have given it all,and they deserve everything in return.I am greatfulfor the oportunity to write mycomments thank you.