Thoughts on the War Museum's Afghanistan Exhibit

Yesterday I had a chance to check out the Canadian War Museum's Afghanistan : A Glimpse of War. I suppose the best word to describe it would be "sobering."

The thing about this is that it's a little hard to imagine a museum exhibit, which we associated with history, that is directly relevant to an ongoing operation. Among other things, it means there's not much by way of interesting artifacts -- things like motor vehicles, war "souvenirs," etc. aren't going to be in big supply for something like this because either the items are still in use or modern collection policies don't allow for a museum purchase. So the exhibit is a little short on artifacts and quite long on documentation.

And there is quite a lot of documentation -- not quite from the soldiers themselves, but from two journalists who were embedded with them, Stephen Thorne and Garth Pritchard.The exhibit is based mainly on their footage and notes taken while "on the run," so to speak. There are a number of video stations along the exhibition route, showing interviews with the troops on the ground and some of the family members back home.

To its credit, the footage doesn't try to be a "rah rah go team" propaganda exercise, nor does it overemphasize the general horrors of war. The footage is basically of people like you and me, trying to do their job in dangerous circumstances. That approach creates resonance within the museum visitor, an empathy for the folks over there.

You might think that the highlight of this exhibit is the wrecked G-Wagon. Based on traditional museum rules, I suppose that's true, but for me the highlight was the ending, a giant screen on which flashed the private and family photos of Canadians who lost their lives in Afghanistan. A lot of the photos shown here could easily have been of your neighbor, or your relatives. As I say, there's a good deal of resonance here.

If you're in the Ottawa area before next January, this exhibit is worth a visit.

Brooks' Addendum: Another perspective on this exhibit from G&M contributor Val Ross.