A virtual exhibition on the Great War in Luxembourg

07-201506-2020

Éischte Weltkrich

The initiatives for the Great War Centenary have offered an unprecedented chance to re-engage with an important but understudied period in Luxembourgish history. Based on research carried out by historians at the University of Luxembourg and with the support of the Ministry of State, in February 2016 the C²DH began developing a digital exhibition on the Great War in Luxembourg.

Serge Kugener Collection
Musée National d’Histoire Militaire Diekirch
Musée National d’Histoire Militaire Diekirch
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“The aim of this project is far-reaching because it is designed to appeal to many different target audiences: members of the public who may have no prior knowledge, local history specialists who might want to use it as a resource and teachers looking for a teaching aid,” explains academic coordinator Sandra Camarda.

Users are able to explore the website in different ways. A thematic, story-driven mode offers a multimedia-based free exploration of the narratives and consequences of the First World War in Luxembourg. The Collection is constituted by the archive of photos, films, press articles, books, letters and personal diaries. Each image is annotated, and a search engine allows users to filter results. An interactive map of Luxembourg and its borders displays geographical points of interest linked with remembrance sites and relevant locations during the Great War. A chronology also provides a detailed overview of the key events between 1914 and the years following the Armistice.

Two additional sections on the website are aimed at more specific user groups. The first, developed in cooperation with local history teachers, contains teaching kits with a variety of class activities designed for pupils. The second features a selection of historiographical articles on various topics that are available for download. The project team has been working in cooperation with some of the major cultural institutions in Luxembourg (the National Archives (ANLux), the National Museum of Military History (MNHM), the National Library (BnL), the National Museum of History and Art (MNHA) and the National Audiovisual Centre (CNA)) to research hundreds of documents from a variety of sources. “Our project goes far beyond a mere digital exhibition,” says Sandra Camarda, “and that’s why an extensive programme of additional activities, workshops, conferences and publications was launched back in 2017.”

“Être d’ailleurs en temps de guerre (14-18)” exhibition

Together with the Centre de Documentation sur les Migrations Humaines (CDMH) in Dudelange and in partnership with Dudelange local council, ANLux, the MNHM, the BnL, the CNA and the MNHA, we prepared the physical exhibition “Être d’ailleurs en temps de guerre (14-18) – Etrangers à Dudelange / Dudelangeois à l’étranger”, which was unveiled on 27 March 2018. The exhibition, complemented by a video installation by multimedia artists Chiara Ligi and Mauro Macella, explores the link between war and human migrations by looking at the experience of the migrant town of Dudelange during the First World War. The exhibition will be accompanied by a lecture series at the CDMH, the University of Luxembourg and the “Op der Schmelz” regional cultural centre.

Lectures and presentations

22 May 2017- Presentation of the first prototype of the digital exhibition at the C2DH opening event by Sandra Camarda

5 June - 9 June 2017 - 4th IFPH Annual Conference (Intl. Federation for Public History) at the Università di Bologna. Presentation of the ‘Digital Exhibition: Remembering the Great War in Luxembourg’ by Sandra Camarda.

17 June 2017 - ForumZ Digital Storytelling. Presentation of the ‘Digital Exhibition: Remembering the Great War in Luxembourg’ by Sandra Camarda.

6 October 2017 - Lecture by Prof. Ian Grosvenor from the University of Birmingham, director of the Voices of War & Peace Centre: “From Voices of War to Voices of Peace: exploring the legacy of the First World War through participatory research”.

25 October 2017 - Presentation of the digital exhibition to the association Amis de l’Université by Sandra Camarda.

8-10 November 2017 - Presentation of the ‘Digital Exhibition: Remembering the Great War in Luxembourg’ by Sandra Camarda at the EVA Berlin conference on Electronic Media and Art, Culture, History.

23 November 2017 - Presentation of Ad Pollé of Europeana 14-18 and Frank Drauschke from Fact & Files: “Personal sources from WWI and citizen science, opportunities for research and education. The project Transcribathon Europeana 1914-1918”.

Teaching activities

In collaboration with Dr Frederik Herman, an educationalist and a specialist in Social and Cultural Histories of Education, we organized a series of focus groups with local history teachers aimed at gaining a first insight on how WW1 is taught in Luxembourg, identifying the challenges teachers might encounter while dealing with this topic, and discussing some digital tools and solutions that can be developed to facilitate teaching and enrich learning experiences, not least by cultivating the 21st century skills (e.g. communication and ICT skills, creative and critical thinking, collaborative and problem-based learning, social and cultural skills) by means of the interdisciplinary STEAM approach (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics). The focus groups with the teachers were followed by an online survey advertised through the ALEH (Association Luxembourgeoise des Enseignants d’Histoire).

The data collected during the discussions constituted the basis for developing the pedagogical section of the exhibition and will result in a forthcoming academic publication. In partnership with the ALEH, we offered two workshops: 

26 October 2017 - Formation continue: "Éischte Weltkrich: Narration numérique dans la salle de classe" à l'Université du Luxembourg

24 Novembre 2017 - Formation continue: "Europeana 1914-1918 et Transcribathon dans la salle de classe"

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