What role does art play in a time of war? I’ve never really thought about it to be honest. Whenever we talk about war, we usually focus on the fighting, the tactics, the effort, the ways to victory. Does culture get swept under the rug?

At the Imperial War Museum, there is an exhibit that focuses on music and art and what exactly happened to these aspects of culture during periods of war.

When it came to art collections, war (specifically World War II in regards to the exhibit, Art in Exile, at the IWM) posed a huge threat to the museums of London. The bombings during the Blitz attack in World War II  proved especially dangerous for the magnificent art stored all across London (Marriott). The Art in Exile exhibit tells the story of how the Imperial War Museum staff worked tirelessly and aimlessly to save pieces of artwork from attack during World War II.

This is a photo of the “culture-savers” -as I would like to call them- saving precious works of art.

Music also got the short end of the stick when it came to wartime priorities. During World War II, Nazi Germany prohibited the listening/playing of swing music.

 

The Frankfurt Hot Club didn’t care. Beginning in 1941, they resisted Nazi regulations and took freedom into their own hands- promoting entertainment, culture, unity in the midst of destruction (Harding).

 

 

During the conflict in Mali in 2012, the Songhoy Blues did a similar thing. As their government took control of their home and banned music in their country, the band hid and played music secretly (Warren).

 

 

 

It’s stories like these, PEOPLE like these that I believe deserve way more attention than they might be getting. Culture, art, music, history is so valuable and these incredible souls knew that. It’s a wondrous thing to be able to defy the constructs of war in order to save something so beautiful and precious.

Art and music are significant components of culture and major aspects of humanity as a whole. The power they hold not only in transforming history, but also in unifying the world is so impactful. To save art is to save history. To save music is to save unity. To save culture is to save humanity.

I was expecting to get some kind of insight on war during my visit to the Imperial War Museum. It’s funny, to me, that I was inspired by so much more than that. I want to be a culture saver now. Don’t you?

          

*all photos were taken by me at the Imperial War Museum*

Marriott, James. “How Britain’s Art Was Saved from the Blitz.” Times2 | The Times, The Times, 2 July 2019, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-britains-art- was-saved-from-the-blitz-kt85w2z2d.

“The Imperial War Museum: Art in Exile.” England, London, 2019.