An exhibition at Jackfield Tile Museum challenges some of the propaganda around how WW1 was and still is represented in the media. Part of Shropshire’s Wilfred Owen 100 programme, ‘The First Casualty of War is Truth’ is a collaboration between artists Julie Edwards, Jill Impey, Jacqui Dodds, Elizabeth Turner and Keith Ashford and is open now, running until Sunday 2 December.
‘BoG Standard’ by Elizabeth Turner refers to precision engineering; instruments were calibrated to ‘BoG’ (British or German) Standard. The death rate in the trenches of WW1 is often referred to as on an industrial scale. In 1917 at Passchendaele, for each individual death only two inches of ground was retaken by the allies, and the striking cast-iron sculpture includes soil as a reminder of that statistic. The exhibition forms part of Shropshire’s programme of commemorative events in this year that marks the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1, helping Shropshire people remember those who served in and were affected by the war. Visit shropshireremembers.org.uk or find Wilfred Owen 100 on Facebook or Twitter.
