Technology captures war memories

Memories of wartime Cumbria are set to be preserved with the help of cutting-edge technology from Lancaster University.

This month The Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal will hold an exhibition called Evidence marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. Local people are invited to bring along their own recollections of the war as well as 1940s memorabilia from gas masks to ration books.

These personal accounts and objects will be preserved for posterity with the help of new technology being developed by computer scientists at InfoLab21.

Tales of rationing and every day life on the home front will be recorded in a big brother style video diary meanwhile an interactive installation will allow visitors to create digital live art by arranging war time memorabilia. The installation is called the Kirlian Table and was developed by .:thePooch:. – a new media collective based in the North West.

First hand accounts of local wartime experiences along with images of the memorabilia and the art created by visitors will be preserved then projected onto large screens forming part of the exhibition.

Professor Nigel Davies of Lancaster University’s Computing Department who helped design some of the technology, said: “These technological elements bring an extra dimension to the exhibition. It is interactive and genuinely local rather than a touring national collection. The project will preserve Cumbrian memories and it gives people an opportunity to interact with new technology in an interesting environment. It also gives us some interesting information about how people interact with systems.”

The exhibition will run from 30th April to 15th May in the Malt Room at the Brewery Arts Centre and admission is free.