MAK has worked with the Imperial War Museum North since its inception contributing artefacts, collected in Kosovo with Dr Nick White, the museum’s historical advisor (2000). Film and photography have been donated both for display and for the museum’s extensive archive.
MaK portraits (by Michael Spencer Jones), shot for the MaK Cohesion album, were donated to the Imperial War Museum North in 2001 for inclusion in the mixed media presentation ‘Children and War’. MaK helped the production team to record children’s experiences of conflict.
‘Children and War’ explores a variety of citizenship issues. Children’s perspectives of the Second World War are presented and then brought up to date with children’s experiences of conflict through the century including Kosovo 1999. The presentation is made up of photographs, children’s art and oral testimony.
‘Children and War’ is considered by the IWMN director to be one of the most powerful elements of the museum and has been experienced by over a million visitors. It can be seen in the main exhibition space daily.
The day McAlpines completed the outer structure of IWMN in December 2001 MaK filmed Manchester musicians in the completed shell of this stunning Daniel Libeskind designed building. Truce International made a presentation to MaK at the museum. Artists participating in the MAK exhibition ‘Fragile State – Art from Kosovo’ were invited to the museum to give an illustrated talk about their work and a touch screen on the subject of evacuation was designed with Saranda Bogujevci. MaK members also gave powerful witness at IWMN on Holocaust Memorial Day.
The museum has also hosted political leaders from Kosova.
War shapes lives. Through sensitively recording, valuing and sharing their accounts of suffering and survival, the IWMN has become central to the recovery of many traumatised Kosovar children in Greater Manchester.
MAK is extremely grateful for the platform IWMN has given to its work in Kosovo and Manchester.
MaK is currently advising on a 2012 film project on the complexity of transition towards a lasting peace.
Learn more about Kosovo through stories of conflict, belonging and identity, presented by the Imperial War Museum, here.
