World War One Chairs' Project
On Thursday 11th October 2018 a simple wooden chair was packed into a DHL cardboard box and left St. Vincent and the Grenadines to be taken to Flanders, Belgium. Flanders is one of the places where Vincentians died in World War 1. That World War ran from 1914 to 1918. St Vincent and the Grenadines is one of the countries of the world from which persons travelled to fight for the Allies. The List of Names researched by the museum shows that there are victims from more than 120 countries across the world. Many were involved representing their own countries, others emigrated and enlisted in the regiments of their new country. Many, persons got involved in the conflict on an individual basis, as volunteers for humanitarian action, as labour force, as fighters in foreign legions or just as accidental bystanders. Many of those persons died in different places while fighting. Flanders in Belgium was one of the big and famous battles fields.
The “In Flanders Fields Museum” collaborating with the Assembly Project is presenting a special exhibition as a Centennial Commemoration of the First World War. In the exhibition chairs from around the world are arranged to show empty seats as an expression of the loss of presence echoing the lost lives. The organisers say that thus far 125 countries have participated including from the Caribbean, Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua, Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago as well as Grenada and it is hoped to have a chair from each country identified as homeland for a dead soldier. SVG is now going to be present. The final Commemorative Weekend of the exhibition will run from 9th to 11th November 2018.
In SVG there are two (2) memorials that remember the dead of the World Wars; the “Iron Man” and the Peace Memorial Hall. Participation in this exhibition is a modern remembrance and acknowledgment of the lives lost at that time. The chairs in the exhibition will speak loudly to the exhibition visitors of the sacrifice by persons from all over the world. It will also speak of the impact their absence had on their families. The press info from the museum indicates 2500+ expected visitors. The web page of the museum for the exhibition (http://www.inflandersfields.be/en/assemblyval-carman-1) provides more info.
The participation of SVG in the Assembly Project was facilitated by a collaboration of National Treasures of SVG with the Ministry of Tourism, Sports & Culture working through the Department of Culture. Logistics support was provided by DHL Belgium.