I was lucky enough to be travelling through Belgium recently and stopped at Ypres to visit the wonderful In Flanders Fields Museum, which commemorates the astonishing 600, 000 who died during the horrendous and protracted trench warfare of WW1. The museum is a truly inspired narrative of these devastating years and manages to depict and retell the experience of individuals with such force and sensitivity that it will remain with me for some time.
Displays were really creatively put together with the one pictured reminding me of the plastic pop out soldiers you could piece together from my childhood.In addition to the museum displays an exhibition of contemporary art included a video installation of a young man in uniform endlessly marching back and forward with a bucket on his head like a fake helmet as a child would, playing at being a soldier. The repetitive sound of the stamping feet echoed through the exhibition somehow illuminating the folly of war in this ludicrous depiction of a childhood game.
If you get the chance I would strongly recommend a visit to the In Flanders Fields at Ypres, a truly special museum.