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Art from War: Lecture January 22nd

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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.

Five disabled veterans in reconstruction section, Walter Reed Hospital. Photo copyrighted 1918. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c06310
Five disabled veterans in reconstruction section, Walter Reed Hospital. Photo copyrighted 1918. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c06310

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.

Good use of time in hospital. Poster, 1919. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3g07384
Good use of time in hospital. Poster, 1919. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3g07384

The talk is being co-sponsored by the Library’s Veterans History Project and the Prints and Photographs Division, and 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]

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Comments (3)

  1. Hi,
    Would love to have been there for this lecture (not in area), any chance it will be videotaped and made available online?
    Thanks!

  2. Interesting Article, Unfortunately too far to attend…
    Fotografía Quito, Ecuador

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