‘Tortured’, a detail from Al Johnson’s sculpture 'The Lost Files'. Photo: Courtesy of Al Johnson.
COs’ sculpture on display in London
A sculpture at Bruce Castle Museum in Tottenham reflects the experience of conscientious objectors in world war one
An artist in Haringey, London, has created a sculpture to reflect the experience of the conscientious objectors (COs) in world war one. The sculpture, The Lost Files, is inspired by the 350 conscientious objectors and their families who lived in Hornsey, Tottenham and Wood Green.
Artist Al Johnson told the Friend: ‘I wanted to give information about those particular men, and also explore the whole issue of COs, while also having an emotional impact.
‘Most people don’t realise how badly they were treated – worse than murderers. I also wanted to reflect the experiences of their partners, who would have been vilified by their communities.’
The sculpture at the Bruce Castle Museum in Tottenham depicts a ‘desecrated office’ to reflect the fact that so much information on COs has been destroyed. Al Johnson explained: ‘There’s this sense that they didn’t want people to know about these people.’
The ‘office’ consists of twelve wooden filing cabinet drawers, each titled to reflect how the COs were treated. The titles include words such as ‘love’, ‘support’, ‘torture’ and ‘punishment’. The drawers also contain visual material, including 16,000 white feathers to represent the number of COs.
The exhibition is part of ‘Conscientious Objection Remembered’, developed by the Haringey First World War Peace Forum. The sculpture will be on display until 23 September.
Comments
It’s worth remembering that though it’s true some CO’s were treated very harshly, thousands of others were granted legal exemption from military conscription and placed in alternative work of national importance - thanks to the work of the Quaker MP T.Edmund Harvey.
By frankem51 on 8th June 2018 - 7:55
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