Why this exhibition? Why now?
2020 marked the 80th anniversary year of the Battle of Britain, a key campaign in the Second World War to defend Britain against Germany in the air.
Taking this key moment as a starting point the exhibition and wider learning project had aimed to uncover and explore the different ways Western artists approached the themes of war and conflict over the last 80 years.
This website is part of a wider Online Exhibition Learning Project initiated by the Learning and Exhibitions Teams at The Collection Museum, with support from The Mighty Creatives in response to the Imperial War Museum Battle of Britain Partnership. More information can be found here.
Working together to provide learning experiences are:
- The Investigate Learning Team and Exhibition Team of Lincolnshire County Council
- The Creative Collective of The Collection Museum and Usher Gallery
- Paradigm Arts
- Supported by Arts Council Museums and Schools Project, Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire Partnership and The Mighty Creatives
The IWM Battle of Britain partnership project was made possible with Art Fund support. The aim was for three Battle of Britain artworks to be displayed at four distinctive venues throughout 2020, alongside unique works from each of the partners’ collections, each display exploring and illustrating a different, locally-relevant perspective on Second World War aviation. Due to the restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, our physical exhibition and learning project was cancelled but now exists entirely online.
More information about this touring programme can be found here: https://www.iwm.org.uk/partnerships/battle-of-britain-artworks
The Creative Collective met weekly to engage with the topic of the Battle of Britain. In their meetings they explored the themes of war and conflict, as well as developing an understanding of curatorial practice. Facing real life challenges presented by the on-going pandemic the group adapted and changed their plans to produce this website in place of an exhibition in the Usher Gallery.
Whilst Flying into Action never made it to the Usher Gallery, below are a selection of works that were due to be displayed. These feature some key loans that were secured from the Imperial War Museum.