London museum will display array of testimonies and archive photographs collected over the years
Complicated and contested stories of conflicts have been told by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) for more than a century. Now, for the first time, it is to tackle the UK’s own war: the 30-year Troubles in Northern Ireland that embroiled civilians, paramilitary groups and the British army, leaving hundreds dead and communities traumatised.
“There was a realisation that this was something that the IWM should address,” said Craig Murray, lead curator of the exhibition. “We wanted to show that it’s complex, difficult – and not over. And we wanted to listen to how and why people disagree about what happened, and air different viewpoints.”
