Knowledge Quarter staff and friends are welcome to join our private evening view of Writing in Times of Conflict at Univeristy of London’s Senate House Library. Enjoy privileged out-of-hours access to the exhibition in the company of lovely, like-minded individuals living and working in the Knowledge Quarter.
The exhibition begins in 1919 just after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles marked the formal end of the First World War, which led to the establishment of contemporary peace movements. It explores some of the most significant military, environmental and economic conflicts that ensued right up until 2019, touching on current political issues such as Brexit, economic inequality, and climate change.
There are many bold stories by well-known writers on display. These include one of the first editions of John Maynard Keynes’ The Economic Consequences of the Peace, a rare signed copy of in our time by Ernest Hemingway, a letter from Virginia Woolf describing the WWII bombers flying overhead, and a first edition of Carol Ann Duffy’s thought-provoking play My Country: a Work in Progress. These are complemented by unique photographs and documents, such as one of the few surviving photostatic copies of the ‘Nazi Black Book’ written in 1940, listing peace activists and politicians to be targeted by the Gestapo.
Told through Senate House Library’s global collections, Writing in Times of Conflict combines a selection of narratives by writers, journalists, politicians and local communities from Africa, Latin America and Europe.