M Shed Panels

SPEAKERS/PERFORMERS AND ABSTRACTS FOR THE FESTIVAL WEEKEND 27TH-28TH April 2019

M Shed, Princes Wharf
Wapping Rd, BS1 4RN United Kingdom + Google Map

 

SATURDAY

Conscientious Objector Stories From Around England (Burton on Trent, Oxford, Hereford)

Saturday, April 27th, 11.00 – 12.30, Studio 1 (M Shed)

  • Karen Hunt ‘ Being a CO in Burton-on-Trent’ Find out more.
  • Elinor Kelly: ‘The Loneliness of Conscience – Herefordshire Conscientious Objectors in WW1’ Find out more.
  • Sue Smith ‘The conscientious objectors in Oxford in 1916’ Find out more.

Internment and internee stories from England and Germany

Saturday, April 27th, 11.00 – 12.30, Room 1 (M Shed)

  • Claudia Sternberg ‘Time Stood Still: The Internment of Civilians at Lofthouse Park Camp near Wakefield, 1914-18’ Find out more.
  • Sonia Grant ‘RUHLEBEN: BAME civilian internees in Germany during WW1’ Find out more.
  • Silvie Fisch ‘Hunting the Hun’ – WW1 and the German Communities in the North East of England Find out more.

Art & War: Resistance and Recovery

Saturday, April 27th, 11.00 – 12.30, Room 2 (M Shed)

  • Jude Hutchens ‘A Colour Chart for Killing – an ethical exploration of how to be a war artist’  (exhibition in Bristol Central Library, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TL running 1 April – 3 May) Find out more.
  • Al Johnson and Ian Rudge ‘The Art of Recovery’ (Al Johnson is also exhibiting The Lost Files, her installation about the conscientious objectors of WW1 during the festival. It is installed at the Crypt at St John on the Wall, Broad Street BS1 2EZ, from 25th April to 20th May) Find out more.

Shot At Dawn campaign

Saturday, April 27th, 11.00 – 12.30, Room 3 (M Shed)

This unique session includes a number of the campaigners who worked to get the men executed for military offences during the First World War pardoned in 2006. The National Union of Journalists Shot at Dawn Campaign banner will also be on display.

Speakers:

  • Janet Booth, granddaughter of Private Harry Farr, whose life ended while tied to a post, without blindfold, shot to death by his fellow soldiers, branded a coward despite having been diagnosed with and treated for shell shock. This was to become the subject of the legal case which caused the government to issue a mass pardon for Harry and men like him.
  • Julian Putkowski, campaigner and co-author of Shot at Dawn: Executions in World War One by Authority of the British Army Act
  • Piet Chielens is the Director of the In Flanders Fields Peace Museum, Ieper and the organiser of the Unquiet Graves International Conference (2000) about soldiers who were shot at dawn

Other Shot at Dawn campaigners present will include: Andy De Comyn (the public artist who created the Shot at Dawn Memorial at the National Arboretum), Tony T (http://www.sweetpatootee.co.uk/about-us/), David Baines (NUJ Newcastle branch chair)  and Gerry Hunwick (NUJ Newcastle branch secretary).

Opposition to Conscription in Wales & Ireland

Saturday, April 27th, 12.30 – 13.30, Studio 1 (M Shed)

  • Joe Mooney, ‘England’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity’ Find out more.
  • Aled Eurig ‘The cowards and the courageous: How the South Wales miners led the resistance to the Government’s attempt to impose military conscription on the mining industry in 1917’ Find out more.

‘Paying for Peace or Paying for War’: A session organised by Conscience – Taxes for Peace not War

Saturday, April 27th, 12.30 – 13.30, Room 1 (M Shed)

Speakers from Conscience – Taxes for Peace not War: war tax resister Robin Brookes and Diana Warner with Lois Bibbings. Find out more.

‘England Arise!’ A drama telling the story of political conscientious objector Arthur Gardiner

Saturday, April 27th, 13.30 – 15.00, Room 1 (M Shed)

Actors, Mick Martin (Bent architect) and Cyril Pearce Find out more.

Commemorating War 1

Saturday, April 27th, 15.30 – 16.30, Room 1 (M Shed)

  • Andy De Comyn (The public artist behind the Shot at Dawn Memorial) ‘Shot at Dawn. Evolution of a Memorial’  Find out more.
  • Mary Muldowney (Mary Stoneybatter & Smithfield People’s History Project , Dublin) ‘Revisiting the Fallen in Ireland, 1918-2018’ Find out more.

A Hundred Years Of Opposition To War

Saturday, April 27th, 14.00 – 15.00, Room 2 (M Shed)

  • Lindsey German (national convenor of Stop The War Coalition)
  • Daniel Blaney (national vice-chair of Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament)

The opposition to Britain’s involvement in World War 1 led to the organisation of many anti-war groups over the subsequent 100 years. Two of the largest and most high-profile today are the Stop the War Coalition and CND. In this session Lindsey German & Daniel Blaney will discuss how their organisations have built on the experiences of past campaigns and the importance of opposing Britain’s current and future wars.

Treatment of Veterans: Then and Now

Saturday, April 27th, 15.00 – 16.00, Room 2 (M Shed)

  • Louise Bell ‘New Limbs For Old’ Find out more.
  • Aly Renwick (Veterans for Peace) ‘Hidden Wounds: Veterans with combat-related PTSD’ Find out more.

World War 1’s Hidden Voices: the role of India, East Africa, Nigeria and the West Indies

Saturday, April 27th, 14.00 – 16.00, Room 3 (M Shed)

Two critical presentations about the role of India, East Africa, Nigeria and the West Indies in WWI, including colonialism and recruitment, the impacts of war and our ongoing culture of war with discussion.

  • Kooj Chuhan, ‘Cultural Representations of World War One and other wars: how colonies are kept invisible’
  • Dipali Das & Ruth Tait, ‘Colonial realities of WWI: uncovering the involvement and experience of peoples from British colonies’

The Great War of 1914 -1918 is usually seen as a ‘European War’. Though the war was fought between European countries, the fact they involved their colonies is mostly invisible. Recognition is usually framed as a praiseworthy ‘contribution’ rather than mass enforcement. This workshop will expose the full extent of involvement from the British colonies in World War I, the impact the war had on those regions, its legacy for those countries and cultural representation of the war.

A part of ‘The Poppy Retake’ and ‘From Shadows Of War And Empire’ exhibitions at M-Shed:

www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/the-poppy-retake-from-the-shadows-of-war-and-empire www.metaceptive.net/poppy-retake

Book Launch: Bristol Radical History Group are publishing two booklets to coincide with the festival – Refusing to Kill: Bristol’s World War I Conscientious Objectors, Mabel Tothill: Feminist, Socialist, Pacifist 

Saturday, April 27th, 14.00 – 15.00, Studio 1 (M Shed)

This launch event will include talks by some of the authors and time for questions and answers. Both booklets will be available to buy at the festival.

  • Refusing to Kill: Bristol’s World War I Conscientious Objectors. Find out more.
  • Mabel Tothill: Feminist, Socialist, Pacifistby June Hannam.  Find out more.

Researching Conscientious Objectors: reviewing past work and planning for future projects

Saturday, April 27th, 15.00 – 16.30, Studio 1 (M Shed)

 

SUNDAY

Mormon and Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objectors

Sunday, April 28th, 11.00 – 12.00, Studio 1 (M Shed)

  • Andrew Bolton ‘So British Mormons were also Conscientious Objectors in WWI?’ Find out more.
  • Gary Perkins ‘Refusing to bow to the god of war – from Richmond Castle to Sachsenhausen concentration camp’ Find out more.

The campaign to clear Alice Wheeldon’s name: a family of resisters during the First World War and now, why does the story matter?

Sunday, April 28th, 11.00 – 12.30, Room 1 (M Shed)

  • Chloë Mason, Cyril Pearce and others, ‘The campaign to clear Alice Wheeldon’s name: a family of resisters during the First World War and now, why does the story matter?’ Find out more.

Women & Opposition To War 1

Sunday, April 28th, 11.00 – 12.00, Room 2 (M Shed)

  • Ingrid Sharp (University of Leeds) ‘Patriotic Peace Service: German Women against the War’ Find out more.
  • Alison Ronan ‘Looking for Phillis and finding Maud’ Find out more.

Commemorating War 2

Sunday, April 28th, 11.00 – 12.30, Room 3 (M Shed)

  • Piet Chielens is the Director of the In Flanders Fields Peace Museum, Ieper and the organiser of the Unquiet Graves International Conference (2000) about soldiers who were shot at dawn. Find out more.
  • Symon Hill (Campaigns Manager at the Peace Pledge Union), ‘Politics, Piers Morgan and the colour of Poppies’ Find out more.
  • Lee-Anne Broadhead and Sean Howard ‘Remembrance on the Rocks:  Scenes from Canada’s Great War Centenary’ Find out more.

Conscientious objector stories from around England (Kent, Mid-Staffs, Forest of Dean)

Sunday, April 28th, 12.30 – 13.30, Studio 1 (M Shed)

  • Catharina Clement ‘Degrees of Conscience’ Find out more.
  • Gerry Barton and John Babb ‘WW1 Conscientious Objectors – Victims of WW1 Militarism?’ Find out more.
  • Ian Wright ‘The conscription of miners, conscientious objectors and Welsh agitators in the Forest of Dean’ Find out more.

‘Remembrance & Modern Day Conscientious Objection’

Sunday, April 28th, 13.30-14.00, Studio 1 (M Shed)

  • Joe Glenton, A talk by a veteran and twenty-first century objector. Joe’s objection related to the war in Afghanistan. See further

Commemoration Through Drama

Sunday, April 28th, 12.30 – 14.00, Room 1 (M Shed)

  • Play 1: ‘War In Mind’ – John Bassett, Spaniel In The Works Theatre Company Find out more.
  • Play 2: Peter Nias  ‘Protestors for Peace: A Play for Remembrance Week November 2018: how and why the play was enacted’ Find out more.

Women & Opposition To War 2

Sunday, April 28th, 12.00 – 13.00, Room 2 (M Shed)

  • Eve Haskins ‘It is up to women to start a crusade for peace!’ Bradford Women’s Humanity League, 1916-18 Find out more.
  • Lucienne Boyce ‘“Men must fight and women must work”: Women’s Objection to War Work in the First World War’ Find out more.

Student Voices After The Great War: Commemorating Conflict, Building Peace

Sunday, April 28th, 12.30 – 13.30, Room 3 (M Shed)

(Daniel Laqua with Georgina Brewis, Sarah Hellawell, Judith Murphy and North East Heritage Branch of the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA), National Union of Students (NUS)

Between 1914 and 1918, young people fought and fell on the battlefield in unprecedented numbers. Our event captures the voices of those who survived the conflict and returned to study at college or university, supported by the first government grants for higher education. The scheme for ex-service students helped individuals who would have otherwise been unable to afford higher education, and boosted the numbers in the universities. While mourning the fallen, this generation built a student movement that promoted internationalist and pacifist ideas, including through founding the National Union of Students (NUS) in 1922. Our event is based on a project involving the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA), NUS as well as academics from London and the North East of England. It will feature short talks by historians Georgina Brewis, Sarah Hellawell and Daniel Laqua as well as performance elements developed in cooperation with current students.

Conscientious Objectors: the story continues

Sunday, April 28th, 14.30 – 16.00, Event Suite (M Shed)

  • Lois Bibbings ‘A rich and complex history: conscientious objection to the military in the First World War’ Find out more.
  • Martin Crick ‘John Percy Fletcher, Thomas Gregory, and the Quaker campaign against compulsory military training in New Zealand and Australia 1909 – 15’ Find out more.
  • Cyril Pearce ‘Autograph books autobiography’ Find out more.

The festival weekend will be closed by Bruce Kent (CND)