Displaying marginalised and ‘hidden’ histories at the Imperial War Museum London: The Second World War gallery regeneration project

Abstract

Using Imperial War Museums’ redeveloped Second World War Galleries as a case study, this provocation discusses the ways in which refocussing outmoded British narratives to a transnational viewpoint and using the interpretive framework of ‘total war’ can help us to deliver new, authoritative and multifaceted narratives where ‘hidden’ histories can be displayed, and scrutinised, in plain sight.

Keywords:

• Second World War
• total war
• China
• museums
• exhibitions
• material culture

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vikki Hawkins

Vikki Hawkins has been a Curator at Imperial War Museums since 2016. She previously delivered ‘Wounded: Conflict Casualties and Care’, an exhibition at the Science Museum which drew on First World War medical collections. In her current role creating IWM's new Second World War Galleries, Vikki has contributed to various conferences on the topic of Displaying Marginalised Histories in Museums, and is currently developing a research project on the Material Culture of Sexual Violence in Conflict.