Between 2014 and 2018, we will be hosting events, exhibitions and projects throughout the borough to commemorate the centenary of the First World War.
Brent Remembers: the Digital War Memorial Project
Libraries and archives across England have been working with local communities and national partners on a Digital War Memorial.
Brent Museum and Archives' utilised the borough's rich and diverse collections to stimulate reflection and discussion; provide the starting point for deeper engagement; and inspire artistic interpretation. Brent Remembers is one of the first ten projects to be shared on the national Digital War Memorial
Poets Malika Booker and Nick Makoha, actor Andy Daniel and heritage professional Jo Sunderland-Bowe drew inspiration from Brent's objects, photos and documents about the First World War to develop creative workshops for Brent's schools, community groups and residents. The resulting video, poems and creative writing are available through the Digital War Memorial website.
Brent Remembers is part of a national project led by the Society of Chief Librarians which was awarded £196,110 from the National Lottery supported Grants for the arts Libraries fund through Arts Council England.
Brent Remembers: Video
Brent Remembers: Five Lives
Autumn 2014 to 24 March 2015
The lives of five Brent residents will be explored in this new exhibition to be held at Brent Civic Centre in the autumn.
It will explore collections held by Brent Museum and Archives to remember the contribution of Charles Garforth, Edith Knight, Charles Bowen, Mabel Comben and Charles Pinkham to the First World War.
The exhibition will also showcase Brent Remembers: the Digital War Memorial Project and feature creative works of remembrance from artists and local residents.
We will be coordinating a public programme of events to run alongside this exhibition. Further details will be available in due course.
Family stories: What is your First World War story?
Autumn 2014 to 2018
To coincide with the autumn exhibition we will also launch a borough wide initiative encouraging members of Brent's communities to explore what their families were doing during the First World War.
This will begin with a one day event at the civic centre on 29 October 2014 featuring film screenings, story telling and creative sessions.
It is hoped one of the results of this project will be a collection of stories which will enrich the Brent Museum and Archives collections and become the subject of a further exhibition in 2018 to be held in The Library at Willesden Green.
School workshops: First World War in Brent
Brent Museum and Archives' outreach programme for schools continues to run in the 2014-15 academic year and we are adding new sessions all the time. View all sessions
Launching for the centenary year is this brand new First World War session exploring local stories, objects from the museum and historic documents from the archives.
For further information contact museum.archives@brent.gov.uk.