ABSTRACT
Contemporary art interventions occupy a complex space within museum and heritage praxis. Employed as an ‘affective alternative to a text-based, didactic explanation’, the interpretive role of contemporary art has been articulated within the broader aims of the Imperial War Museum to facilitate a ‘critical historical consciousness’ in visitors. The chapter argues that the impetus of the Imperial War Museum (IWM) North to facilitate critical historical consciousness in their visitors through the inclusion of contemporary artistic responses is imbued with a similar transformative intent. The case study of ‘Conflict and Compassion’ at the IWM North provided an opportunity to consider the possibilities of contemporary art facilitating in museum visitors a critical historical consciousness. Mojadidi conceptualises the ‘Eurocentric curator/dealer/gallerist/institution’ with respect to Kipling-era colonial mentalities, defining the ‘noble artist’ as ‘the artist who can rise the savagery of war and oppression of conflict that surrounds them’.
