Curating War: A Multivocal, Inclusive Representation of World War I at the In Flanders Fields Museum

On October 27, 2022, on the occasion of their research visit to Washington hosted by the Smithsonian's Asian Cultural History Program, Dr. Dominiek Dendooven and Dr. Pieter Trogh (from the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ieper, Belgium) presented the lecture "Curating War: A Multivocal, Inclusive Representation of World War I at the In Flanders Fields Museum" at the Residence of His Excellency Jean Arthur Régibeau, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the United States of America in Washington DC.
Introductory remarks by H.E. Ambassador Régibeau, and by Mr. Yves Wantens, General Representative of Flanders to the United States, thanking Mr. Brian Dick of the U.S. State Department and Dr. Paul Taylor of the Smithsonian for their support of the research visit to Washington by these curators from the In Flanders Fields Museum.
Abstract/Summary:
The In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres (Belgium) is one of the most important museums about World War I along the former western front. It is characterized by offering a multi-voiced and inclusive perspective, with due attention for the individual experience of war. In addition to devoting balanced consideration to soldiers from the various belligerent countries, it also focuses on rather ignored groups such as the civilian population, displaced persons, minorities in the armies and colonial (auxiliary) troops. In Flanders Fields Museum has made a name for itself with books, conferences and especially exhibitions about the Chinese Labour Corps, about the soldiers from colonies such as British India and the Caribbean, and - most recently - about the First World War in the Middle East. Curators Dominiek Dendooven and Pieter Trogh highlight how they work, from research to museum practice.
Biographies of speakers:
Dr Dominiek Dendooven is a researcher and curator at In Flanders Fields Museum, Ypres, Belgium, research fellow of the Centre for Political History of the University of Antwerp (Belgium), and an honorary research fellow at United Service Institution of India - Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research in Delhi (India), and the Centre for the History of War, Media and Society of the University of Kent (UK). His research focus is the presence of non-European troops on the western front during the First World War: war experiences, consequences and interaction with local people. He was a member of the scientific committee that prepared the proposal to have the cemeteries of the First World War inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Publications in English include: Menin Gate & Last Post. Ypres as Holy Ground (Klaproos, 2014); World War I. Five Continents in Flanders (Lannoo, 2008), Asia in Flanders Fields. Indians and Chinese on the Western Front, 1914-1920 (Pen & Sword, 2021), and The British West Indies Regiment. Race and Colour on the Western Front (Pen & Sword, forthcoming). He was responsible for the co-ordination and development of the exhibitions The Last Witness (2006), Man - Culture - War. Multicultural Aspects of the First World War (2008), Toiling for War. Chinese Labourers in the First World War (2010), Feniks. Reconstructing Flanders Fields (2020) and was heavily involved in the development of the permanent exhibitions (1998 and 2012) of the award winning In Flanders Fields Museum.
Dr. Pieter Trogh is a researcher and curator at In Flanders Fields Museum, Ypres, Belgium. Since 2011, he has coordinated the museum’s ambitious List of Names project. His main First World War research themes are civilian casualties, refugees, French military presence on Belgian battlefields, and written accounts of the war. His publications include De Geschreven Oorlog: een anthologie van teksten van het front in België, 1914-1940 (The War in Writings: an anthology of texts at the front in Belgium, 1914-1940; Antwerp: Manteau, 2016), with Piet Chielens, and De Namenlijst: een algemene inleiding (The List of Names: a general introduction; Ieper: IFFM, 2019). In 2022 he curated the exhibition ‘For Civilisation’. The First World War in the Middle East, 1914-1923, and published a book with the same name to go along with the exhibition (Gent: Tijdsbeeld, 2022).