Throughout the trip, I was mostly surprised at how the element of war persisted, every place seemed to mimic the history of war and it inevitably provoked me to think about how our world today is in fact still at war, but in a different form.
The British Museum would definitely be the first place with the experience of war. Having monuments and architectural pieces from all around the world, the exhibitions inside astounded me at first but I was also aware of the fact that all of these were “taken” as a result of the British Empire winning over countries that were relatively powerless and vulnerable. Despite war is still happening in less developed countries nowadays, people are keen to voice the destructive effects of war as compared to the past by protesting on streets or voicing their opinions through action, an example of that would be the sculpture in the African section known as the “Throne of Weapons”, created by an organization called “Transforming arms into tools”. This particular sculpture not only reminded people of the devastating outcomes of war, its presence in the museum in the form of a chair symbolizes the importance of dropping weapons and anger as a way to maintain peace.
Another place worthy of note would be the Imperial War Museum. While I was not particularly amazed by the tanks and army equipments, it was how the museum illustrated different people at war that struck me the most. I remembered walking down the aisle before entering the exhibitions of the WWI and WWII, and I was immediately awed by the large black and white photos that ran along the hallway, showing the injured, the innocent and the separation between a mother and a son. The subjects were anonymous and there wasn’t a single one with a description beside it. To me, the museum had intended to leave it blank, as by doing so it further emphasizes we are actually only looking at a few of the entire population involved. The “Children at War” section which displayed numerous letters of children to their parents and photographs of them being exploited to a foreign environment was another one that impressed me a lot. The depiction of war through a child’s angle revealed how their childhood consisted of separation, terror and the uncertainty of whether their parents were alive or not in the war field. War is destructive and can be even more painful when these little ones have to grow up under that shadow.
Walking around central London, we often saw newly constructed modern buildings, but given that this was a place with a prolonged history and past, these fine buildings again reminded me that the former building was bombarded during the war. Apart from sitting in Starbucks enjoying your coffee, let us not forget about the cost behind our peacefulness.
The British Museum would definitely be the first place with the experience of war. Having monuments and architectural pieces from all around the world, the exhibitions inside astounded me at first but I was also aware of the fact that all of these were “taken” as a result of the British Empire winning over countries that were relatively powerless and vulnerable. Despite war is still happening in less developed countries nowadays, people are keen to voice the destructive effects of war as compared to the past by protesting on streets or voicing their opinions through action, an example of that would be the sculpture in the African section known as the “Throne of Weapons”, created by an organization called “Transforming arms into tools”. This particular sculpture not only reminded people of the devastating outcomes of war, its presence in the museum in the form of a chair symbolizes the importance of dropping weapons and anger as a way to maintain peace.
Another place worthy of note would be the Imperial War Museum. While I was not particularly amazed by the tanks and army equipments, it was how the museum illustrated different people at war that struck me the most. I remembered walking down the aisle before entering the exhibitions of the WWI and WWII, and I was immediately awed by the large black and white photos that ran along the hallway, showing the injured, the innocent and the separation between a mother and a son. The subjects were anonymous and there wasn’t a single one with a description beside it. To me, the museum had intended to leave it blank, as by doing so it further emphasizes we are actually only looking at a few of the entire population involved. The “Children at War” section which displayed numerous letters of children to their parents and photographs of them being exploited to a foreign environment was another one that impressed me a lot. The depiction of war through a child’s angle revealed how their childhood consisted of separation, terror and the uncertainty of whether their parents were alive or not in the war field. War is destructive and can be even more painful when these little ones have to grow up under that shadow.
Walking around central London, we often saw newly constructed modern buildings, but given that this was a place with a prolonged history and past, these fine buildings again reminded me that the former building was bombarded during the war. Apart from sitting in Starbucks enjoying your coffee, let us not forget about the cost behind our peacefulness.
No comments:
Post a Comment