Details have been announced of the programme of talks, films, performance, exhibitions taking place as part of the Commemoration, Conflict & Conscience Festival. The main festival weekend is on Saturday & Sunday 27th & 28th April but some exhibitions are on at venues across the city for a longer period and there are some linked events taking place before and after the weekend.
Commemoration, Conflict & Conscience is a national festival which looks at hidden or lesser known stories of the First World War, legacies of the conflict, peace-building and alternatives to officially sponsored commemoration. Topics considered include: the Shot at Dawn campaign; conscientious objection to military service; strikes; mutinies, desertion and absenteeism; colonial experiences and impacts; women’s peace activism; treatment of veterans; a century of opposition to war; alienation from commemoration.
At Bristol’s M Shed museum, this free weekend festival (27th-28th April) will bring together community groups, local historians, academics, campaigners, activists and performers from across the country. The festival includes exhibitions, performances, talks, films, music, community projects, history walks and a puppet show.
Highlights include Cyril Pearce, one of the foremost researchers into WW1 conscientious objectors, Janet Booth who has campaigned to clear the name of her grandfather who was shot for desertion, Piet Chielens of the ‘In Flanders Field‘ museum and many others. On the evening of 27th April at the SouthBank Club, Paul McGann will be in conversation about his appearance in the classic BBC TV series ‘The Monocled Mutineer‘.
The festival is being organised in Bristol with the help of the Remembering the Real World War One history group.
All the events will be listed below but keep an eye out as more are being added every day.
M Shed Rooms: Studios 1 & 2 are on the 1st Floor, Rooms 1-3 are in the Events Suite on the 2nd Floor.
Evening events on Saturday 27th are at the Southbank Club, Dean Lane, BS3 1DB.
You can follow the festival on Facebook here and on Twitter here
For more information email rememberingrealww1@gmail.com
Exhibitions (drag left/right):
| Date | Title | Details | With | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| to , 2019 | A colour chart for killing | During the centenary commemorations the fallacy of the First World War as ‘The War To End All Wars’ provides an invaluable platform for its legacy to Britain as a military nation to be explored. The […] | Jude Hutchen | More |
| to , 2019 | The Art and Nature of Conscience | 'The Art & Nature of Conscience' explores World War 1 conscientious objectors' thinking about conscience alongside their words and artwork. It also show-cases contemporary artists' reflections on […] | More |
Thursday 18th April (drag left/right):
| Date | Time | Title | Details | With | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| , 2019 | |
Who would know that Britain has been almost consistently at war since WW1? | As part of the Lunchtime Lecture series organised by Bristol Libraries visual artist Jude Hutchen will present the ideas behind her current exhibition at the Central Library: ‘A Colour Chart for […] | Jude Hutchen | More |
Sunday 21st April (drag left/right):
| Date | Time | Title | Details | With | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| , 2019 | This Evil Thing | Anyone who saw Michael Mears’ one-man show ‘This Evil Thing’ in Bristol Cathedral in October 2017 will know what a powerful piece of theatre it is. We are now pleased to present two new performances, […] | Michael Mears | More |
Tuesday 23rd April (drag left/right):
| Date | Time | Title | Details | With | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| , 2019 | |
These Dangerous Women | Thursday's Child Best remembered as a suffragette, Sylvia Pankhurst was also a passionate supporter of the Russian revolution, a founder of the British Communist Party and a talented visual artist. […] | Michele Ryan | More |
Saturday 27 April @MShed (drag left/right):
| Date | Time | Location | Title | Details | With | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| , 2019 | |
Studio 2 | Making It Home | Making It Home Mark Rhead presents his film 'Making it Home' (67 minutes) and a photographic exhibition made in partnership with the Bellanaleck Local History Group. Making it Home is the story of […] | Mark Rhead | More |
| , 2019 | |
Studio 1 | Conscientious Objector Stories From Around England 1 | Being a CO in Burton-on-Trent Karen Hunt speaks about the Mid Staffordshire Appeals Tribunal and what the records reveal about life on the Staffordshire home front. Amongst the Appeals papers were a […] | Karen Hunt, Elinor Kelly, Sue Smith |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Room 1 | Internment and internee stories from England and Germany | Time Stood Still: The Internment of Civilians at Lofthouse Park Camp near Wakefield, 1914-18 Claudia Sternberg talks about Lofthouse Park Camp which held nearly 3,000 German and Austrian-Hungarian […] | Sonia Grant, Silvie Fisch, Claudia Sternberg |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Room 2 | Art and War | ‘A Colour Chart for Killing’ Jude Hutchen, the artist behind one of the festival exhibitions, A Colour Chart for Killing, talks about her work and art and war resistance. Her exhibition is showing in […] | Jude Hutchen, Al Johnson, Ian Rudge |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Room 3 | Shot at Dawn Campaign | Shot At Dawn campaign This unique session brings together a number of the campaigners who worked to get the men executed for military offences during the First World War pardoned in 2006. The National […] | Janet Booth, Piet Chielens, Andy De Comyn, Julian Putkowski, Tony T, David Baines, Gerry Hunwick |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Studio 1 | Opposition to Conscription in Wales and Ireland | 'England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity' Joe Mooney of East Wall History Group, Dublin explains how Irish Nationalists responded to the Great War. His talk will outline the difficulties of the […] | Aled Eirug, Joe Mooney |
More |
| , 2019 | |
War School | Mic Dixon (Director), with Aly Renwick (Veteran’s for Peace), presents his film War School about the battle for the hearts and minds of Britain’s children (82 minutes). Set against the backdrop of […] | Mic Dixon, Aly Renwick |
More | |
| , 2019 | |
Room 1 | Paying for Peace or Paying for War? | War tax resisters Robin Brookes and Diana Warner talk about their campaign, with Lois Bibbings . They explain that we all pay for war through our taxes. Since 1916 conscientious objectors (COs) have […] | Robin Brookes, Diana Warner, Lois Bibbings |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Room 1 | England Arise! A Drama | A reading of the play 'England, Arise!' a drama telling the story of Arthur Gardiner's refusal to fight in the First World War on political grounds, inspired by and drawing on Cyril Pearce's book […] | Cyril Pearce, Mick Martin |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Studio 1 | Bristol Radical History Group Book Launch | This book launch will include talks by some of the authors and time for questions and answers. Both booklets will be available to buy at the festival. Refusing to Kill: Bristol's World War I […] | Lois Bibbings, Jeremy Clarke, June Hannam |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Room 2 | A Hundred Years Of Opposition To War | A Hundred Years Of Opposition To War Speakers - Lindsey German (Stop the War Coalition) and Daniel Blaney (CND) | Lindsey German, Daniel Blaney |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Room 3 | WW1’s Hidden Voices | Two critical presentations about the role of India, East Africa, Nigeria and the West Indies in WWI, including colonialism and recruitment, the impacts of war and our ongoing culture of war followed […] | Kooj Chuhan, Dipali Das, Ruth Tait |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Studio 2 | Mutiny | Tony T presents his documentary 'Mutiny' which looks at the British Caribbean experience of the First World War and its legacies, as revealed by the last surviving veterans of the British West Indies […] | Julian Putkowski, Tony T |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Studio 1 | Researching Conscientious Objectors | Researching Conscientious Objectors with Valerie Flessati and Cyril Pearce This session with Cyril Pearce will be an opportunity for anyone who has been researching or telling the story of the First […] | Cyril Pearce, Valerie Flessati |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Room 2 | Treatment of War Veterans: Then and Now | New Limbs For Old …when the country was crying for men and I left a good job to join the soldiers, but now when I am a maimed and not fit for manual labour, this country has no further use for us. […] | Louise Bell, Aly Renwick |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Room 1 | Commemorating War 1 | Shot at Dawn. Evolution of a Memorial Andy De Comyn (the public artist behind the Shot at Dawn Memorial) looks at the concept and creation of the Shot at Dawn memorial. He explains how the idea […] | Andy De Comyn, Mary Muldowney |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Studio 2 | Women Campaigning for Peace in World War 1 | Alison Ronan presents two films she has worked on and will be at the screenings to speak about them and answer questions. These Dangerous Women Documentary about the women who tried to stop World War […] | Alison Ronan | More |
Saturday 27 April @Southbank Club (drag left/right):
| Date | Time | Title | Details | With | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| , 2019 | Rosie Sleightholme | Folk singer Rosie Sleightholme (‘Utterly wonderful’ BBC Radio Wales) will sing a selection of World War One songs about conscription, politics and war resistance. The songs Rosie will perform have […] | Rosie Sleightholme | More | |
| , 2019 | Otherstory puppet theatre: ‘Taking a Holiday’ | Taking a Holiday is a tale of conscientious objectors and others who went on the run from conscription during the First World War – and of the networks that supported them. A story of struggle in […] | Otherstory | More | |
| , 2019 | The Red Violinist | A talk illustrated with six musical interludes on Eduard Soermus, an Estonian violinist who lived in Merthyr Tydfil at the end of the First World War but was expelled from Britain in 1919. The concert […] | Oliver Wilson-Dickson, Colin Thomas |
More | |
| , 2019 | Revisiting The Monocled Mutineer with Paul McGann | BBC TV’s ‘The Monocled Mutineer’ star, Paul McGann, in conversation with Lois Bibbings from Remembering the Real World War 1 and the University of Bristol. | Paul McGann, Lois Bibbings |
More | |
| , 2019 | Harbottle and Jonas | For this project, David Harbottle (vocals, acoustic guitar and stomp box) and Freya Jonas (vocals, harmonium and concertina) have reimagined several songs from the WW1 Conscientious Objectors (COs) […] | Harbottle & Jonas | More |
Sunday 28th April @MShed (drag left/right):
| Date | Time | Location | Title | Details | With | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| , 2019 | |
Studio 2 | ‘Emmerdale’s Conscientious Objector’ | A showing of one of the Emmerdale 1918 series which looks at the experiences of Yorkshire conscientious objector Alfred Martlew. Cyril Pearce, who is the expert in this documentary, will be there to […] | Cyril Pearce | More |
| , 2019 | |
A history walk with puppets: Steps Against War | Otherstory puppetry will be leading a history walk using the medium of puppetry to tell the untold stories of Bedminster people who resisted the First World War, and who refused to kill. Otherstory […] | Otherstory | More | |
| , 2019 | |
Studio 2 | Film Premier – ‘The Singapore Mutiny’ | Documentary revealing how the First World War shaped Gandhi’s rise to prominence in India and the path to independence. Focusing on the bloody mutiny of the Indian battalion in Singapore in 1915, with […] | Tony T | More |
| , 2019 | |
Studio 1 | Mormon and Jehovah’s Witness Conscientious Objectors | ‘So British Mormons were also Conscientious Objectors in WWI?’ There were four British Latter Day Saint conscientious objectors (COs) in World War I, three Mormon (LDS), and one Reorganised LDS (RLDS) […] | Andrew Bolton, Gary Perkins |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Room 1 | The campaign to clear Alice Wheeldon’s name | Led by Alice’s great-granddaughter, Chloë Mason, this session will look at the campaign to clear the names of Alice Wheeldon, Winne and Alf Mason and looks back at the history of the case. Currently: […] | Chloe Mason, Cyril Pearce |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Room 2 | Women and Opposition To War – 1 | Patriotic Peace Service: German Women against the War (Ingrid Sharp) Even before the war broke out in August 1914, the leading German women’s organisation was ready with a plan for a National Women’s […] | Ingrid Sharp, Alison Ronan |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Room 3 | Commemoration Panel 2 | The In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres, a cultural and transnational museum about WWI (Piet Chielens) The Ypres Salient, the infamous bulge in the front line around the Belgian city of Ypres was one […] | Piet Chielens, Symon Hill, Lee-Anne Broadhead, Sean Howard |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Room 2 | Women and Opposition To War – 2 | 'It is up to women to start a crusade for peace!' Bradford Women’s Humanity League, 1916-18 (Eve Haskins) Existing research on female war resistance in Britain focuses mainly upon the educated […] | Eve Haskins, Lucienne Boyce |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Studio 1 | Conscientious Objector Stories From Around England 2 | ‘Degrees of Conscience’ (Catharina Clement) The story of three tribunals, Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham in North Kent, and how they treated their conscientious objectors. Rochester, despite its […] | Catharina Clement, Gerry Barton, John Babb, Ian Wright |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Studio 2 | Film showing – ‘Watford’s Quiet Heroes’ | A 30 minute documentary telling the stories of some of those who defied the call to arms in World War One. The bravery, hardship, sacrifice and sorrow of the combatants in WW1 are rightly remembered […] | Simon Colbeck | More |
| , 2019 | |
Room 1 | Commemoration Through Drama | Play 1: 'War In Mind' - John Bassett, Spaniel In The Works Theatre Company This new powerful dramatic performance looks at the lives of real people affected by shell shock in the First World War. […] | John Bassett, Peter Nias |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Room 3 | Student Voices After The Great War | Between 1914 and 1918, young people fought and fell on the battlefield in unprecedented numbers. Our event captures the voices of those who survived the conflict and returned to study at college or […] | Daniel Laqua, Georgina Brewis, Sarah Hellawell, Judith Murphy |
More |
| , 2019 | |
Studio 2 | Film showing – ‘The Last Clarion House’ | A film about the Nelson Independent Labour Party Clarion House and its role in the struggles of suffragettes and conscientious objectors. The Clarion Cycling Club was formed in 1895 after a group of […] | Alison Ronan | More |
| , 2019 | |
Event Suite | Conscience Panel | A rich and complex history: conscientious objection to the military in the First World War (Lois Bibbings) This talk revisits what we know about objectors – in terms of their thoughts, motivations, […] | Lois Bibbings, Martin Crick, Cyril Pearce |
More |
| , 2019 | Event Suite | Closing speech by Bruce Kent (CND) | The Commemoration, Conflict & Conscience festival weekend will be closed by Bruce Kent of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) | Bruce Kent | More |