The parades, poppies and silences of Remembrance Sunday
are a sombre means of reflecting upon the sacrifice of those who died in war,
but what of those who survived and came home? “Remember the dead, but don’t
forget the living” is a familiar refrain. Returning veterans have historically encountered
problems adjusting to civilian life even if they have not been physically
scarred by their experiences. Recent wars in places like Afghanistan and Iraq
have created a new generation of veterans trying to cope, and as a consequence
new ways of trying to help them have been and are being developed.
There are a variety of schemes and projects that have
been established to help these brave men and women, and a particularly innovative example
of such a project originated on the west coast of Canada. Last Friday I went to
see an art installation at Canada House which is the work of the Man/Art/Action
Project which is linked to the Veterans Transition Network (VTN). This has helped
veterans to recover from what are referred to as the ‘invisible wounds’ of war
(such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and survivor guilt) by having
them work on art projects with artists, actors, counsellors – such as Dr Marv
Westwood, Professor in Counselling Psychology at the University of British
Columbia, who has been internationally recognised for his work with VTN – and even
Native wood-carvers. The installation is in fact in three parts – two works of
art and a theatre piece.
Lest We Forget
Canada is a mural that was created to raise awareness of the impact that
Canadian involvement in Afghanistan had on the 40,000 soldiers who served there
and their families. It consists of 162 panels, each of which commemorates one
of the Canadian soldiers who died there. Made from the pages of old military
training pamphlets, it’s the brainchild of the Vancouver-based multimedia
artist Foster Eastman and it was made by veterans. The idea for this came from
the notion that men have a tendency to share more information when working with
their hands, and many veterans involved found the project therapeutic as they
began to talk about their experiences – with counsellors as well as with each
other – while taking part. For many, talking about their experiences can be an
important first step.
The mural has toured Canada and the backs of each panel
have been signed by the people who made it and the families of the soldiers
commemorated on it. The idea of families signing it was not an intention until
the mural was shown to (then) Prime Minister Harper and a group of bereaved
families, and some of the children found the panels with their fathers’ names
on them and went round the back to write messages. When HRH Prince Harry –
himself an Afghanistan veteran who has done much work with veterans of recent
wars through events such as the Invictus Games – went to see the mural at
Canada House, he made a point of finding the eight panels bearing the names of
Canadian soldiers who had died while serving with his regiment and signing them
as ‘Harry, Capt. Wales’.
Alongside the mural is the Veterans Tribute Pole which
was Fraser’s next project. It is made of two coffins, symbolising “the men who
came home in a box, literally and mentally”, Fraser explained when I went to
visit. Like the mural, it was made by veterans but with this they went through
the traditional Native process of carving totem poles, beginning with a healing
song. The varnish was stripped from the coffins, which were covered with
satellite images of Kandahar and Kabul along with the names of Canadian Army
ranks which were carved into the wood. It too has toured Canada.
The third part of the exhibit was Contact! Unloaded, a
theatre piece performed by four veterans alongside two actors. It was a moving
and at times emotionally-charged piece in which the veterans spoke of and acted
out their experiences around an attempt to recite the St Crispin’s Day Speech
from Shakespeare’s Henry V – proud rhetoric
of honour and brotherhood interspersed with first-hand accounts of the grim realities
of modern war. For those involved, the project has – like the mural and the
pole – proved therapeutic, especially when performed in front of their
families. In the question-and-answer session that followed, it was noted that veterans
who have seen the piece have often come forward afterwards and asked how they
can become involved with VTN. Fraser commented that he has even been approached
by veterans of the Second World War; “they told us we were sixty years too
late,” he explained.
What people like Fraser and Marv are doing is truly
impressive, and I was glad that I had the chance to go and see it. Friday,
alas, marked the final performance of Contact! Unload at Canada House, although
both the Lest We Forget Canada mural and the Veterans Tribute Pole will be on
display at Canada House until 25th November (all visitors are
required to register in advance).
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