British Columbia’s War, 1914–1918
to
The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford 32388 Veterans Way, Abbotsford, British Columbia V2T 0B3
"Soldiers of the 48th Battalion (Canadian Expeditionary Force), marching down Government Street in front of the Empress Hotel, Victoria," 1915
Image courtesy of Royal BC Museum
British Columbia’s War, 1914–1918, a touring exhibition on loan from the Royal BC Museum. The RBCM dug deep into its collections to unearth powerful material about the Great War that aims to educate British Columbians about the contributions of their forebears in the First World War.
Using archival photographs, fascinating stories, and artifacts, the exhibition examines how the province coalesced around this traumatic global event. With touching examples of trench art, the exhibition resonates with both Behind the Lines and Ambivalence Blvd., demonstrating how acts of creative expression have long played a role in surviving and parsing the trauma of violent conflict. Materials drawn from The Reach’s own historical collections will relate the global narrative to local stories and will elaborate on the local experience.