The Box announced as a partner for Imperial War Museums’ national art commissioning programme

The Box announced as a partner for Imperial War Museums’ national art commissioning programme

11 May 2023

The Box is proud to announce that it’s been selected to be part of the IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund, a national partnership programme of over 20 artist commissions inspired by the heritage of conflict.

Led by Imperial War Museums, the IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund was created following the success of 14-18 NOW, the official UK arts programme for the First World War centenary.

The Box is one of nine new partners announced today. They will each receive £20,000 from the IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund to realise their commissions, tackling subjects that range from rebuilding after the Second World War to reconciliation in the aftermath of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

The Box will be using the Falklands War of 1982 as a starting point for its project, which will explore the idea of home and what it means to come home in a time of conflict. The project team will be working with veterans and service families over the coming months and hopes to select an artist later this year. The outcome of its commission will take place in spring/summer 2024.

Rebecca Newell, Head of Art for Imperial War Museums says,

The IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy fund builds on Imperial War Museums’ rich and longstanding history of commissioning art. One year into this programme, we are delighted by the diversity of exceptional arts experiences that have been created and shared with audiences. We look forward to expanding this work with artists, organisations and communities across the UK, continuing to highlight stories of conflict in engaging and creative ways.

The IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund is made possible by a share of the royalties from Peter Jackson’s critically acclaimed film They Shall Not Grow Old. Today’s newly announced partners are all members of IWM’s War and Conflict Subject Specialist Network (WCSSN) and hail from across all four nations of the UK.

They join a diverse existing cohort of national partners who have all received £20,000 each for their commissions. The Fund has also awarded £250,000 each to five major partners or ‘co-commissioners’ who will be working with five world-leading artists including Turner Prize nominees, to explore themes that include care work in conflict and the current refugee crisis.

Jodie Bishop, public art officer at The Box says,

The IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund creates new opportunities for organisations to collaborate with artists and bring art to audiences in new and relevant ways. War should never be celebrated, but we are pleased to be given the chance to collaborate with an artist and members of the community to create something that will examine and explore a conflict that took place within many of our living memories in a different way.

The nine new IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund partners are:

  • Bentley Priory Museum in Stanmore
  • The Box in Plymouth
  • Brickworks Museum in Burlesdon
  • Ffotogallery in Cardiff
  • Freedom Festival Arts Trust in Hull
  • The Harris Museum in Preston
  • Nerve Centre in Derry-Londonderry
  • Sweet Patootee Arts in London
  • The Unicorn Preservation Society in Dundee

Find out more about the IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund.