ABSTRACT
Museums Victoria’s 2014–18 exhibition World War I: Love and Sorrow, curated by Deborah Tout-Smith, provided a deeply personal account of the war and its long aftermath. Based on eight diverse stories that unfolded through the course of the exhibition, it presented poignant personal objects alongside graphic and challenging content reflecting the intimate experience of war. It highlighted the impacts of wounding, death and disease; longing and loss; it revealed how service people and their families struggled, succumbed or coped, editing their memories and constructing narratives with which they could live. Evaluation has shown how the exhibition engaged visitors emotionally and encouraged new thinking about the war.
