'With Glory, Rather Than Gore': V&A Bomb Damage and the Shaping of British War Memory Petra Seitz RCA/V&A History Of
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‘With Glory, Rather Than Gore’: V&A Bomb Damage and the Shaping of British War Memory Petra Seitz RCA/V&A History of Design Masters Dissertation October 25, 2019 21,613 Words Abstract This dissertation examines the evolution in appearance and meaning of the bomb-damaged Victoria and Albert Museum Exhibition Road façade. It tracks and analyzes changes made to the site between its initial damaging in 1941 through its current appearance in 2019. Drawing upon conceptual frameworks of memory work and banal nationalism from James E. Young and Michael Billig, this dissertation argues that through the implementation of various design elements the V&A’s site of bomb damage takes a heritage-based approach to crafting a narrative of the Second World War. 1 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 1 List of Illustrations .............................................................................................................. 4 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ 8 List of Abbreviations .......................................................................................................... 9 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 11 0.1 Bomb Damage as Historical Record ...................................................................... 11 0.2 Two Approaches to Second World War Memory................................................... 14 0.3 Methodology ............................................................................................................ 17 0.4 Historiography ......................................................................................................... 18 0.5 Bomb Damage to the Victoria and Albert Museum: Brief Object Description ..... 21 0.6 Outline of Paper ....................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 1: A Question of Repair (1939-46) ...................................................................... 27 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 27 1.1 The V&A Gets Blitzed .............................................................................................. 27 1.2 V&A Damage in Context ......................................................................................... 29 1.3 The Question of Repair ........................................................................................... 33 1.31 Ministry of Works Documentation .................................................................... 33 1.32 Popular Attitudes ............................................................................................... 34 1.34 Britain Can Make It ............................................................................................. 37 1.5 The Real Story ......................................................................................................... 44 1.6 Impact of the Myth of Deliberate Preservation ...................................................... 45 Chapter 2: The Kindersley Engraving (1982-87) ............................................................. 47 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 47 2.1 Description of the Engraving .................................................................................. 48 2.2 Historical Framework .............................................................................................. 49 2.3 The Heritage Turn .................................................................................................... 51 2.4 Permission Process and Related Correspondence .............................................. 54 2.5 ‘Memory Work’ into ‘Banal Nationalism’ ................................................................ 56 2.6 V&A Damage Site as Object of ‘Banal Nationalism’ .............................................. 59 2.7 Returning to the Heritage Turn ............................................................................... 61 2.8 Hidden in Plain Sight ............................................................................................... 63 2.9 With Glory, Rather Than Gore ................................................................................ 65 Chapter 3: The Spiral and Sackler Courtyard (1995-2017) ............................................. 67 2 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 67 3.1 Overview of Site Developments.............................................................................. 67 3.2 Socio-Political Context of the Spiral and Sackler Courtyard ................................ 70 3.3 Daniel Libeskind’s Spiral ........................................................................................ 71 3.4 The Spiral as an Embodiment of Memory Work .................................................... 74 3.6 AL_A’s Sackler Courtyard Project .......................................................................... 78 3.7 Heritage Components of the Sackler Courtyard ................................................... 79 Part 1 – Metal Gates ................................................................................................... 79 Part 2 – Replacement of Stone on Webb Screen ..................................................... 83 Part 3 - The 2017 Engraving ...................................................................................... 86 3.8 Two Projects, Two Approaches .............................................................................. 90 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 95 4.1 The Myth of the Blitz/War ........................................................................................ 95 4.2 Effects of A Heritage Approach .............................................................................. 97 4.3 How Heritage Does This .......................................................................................... 98 4.4 Moving Forward ..................................................................................................... 100 Appendix A ...................................................................................................................... 103 Appendix B ...................................................................................................................... 117 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 118 1. Primary Sources ...................................................................................................... 118 1.1 Manuscripts ........................................................................................................ 118 1.2 Printed Sources ................................................................................................. 119 1.3 Web Sources ...................................................................................................... 120 1.4 Other Sources .................................................................................................... 122 2. Secondary Sources ................................................................................................. 122 2.1 Printed Sources ................................................................................................. 122 2.2 Web Sources ...................................................................................................... 127 2.3 Unpublished Sources ........................................................................................ 128 2.4 Other Sources .................................................................................................... 128 3 List of Illustrations Figure 1 (Page 12) Photo of milkman delivering wares amidst a pile of rubble, October 9 1940. Photo by Fred Morley. Figure 2 (Page 21) Photo of blitz damage to Exhibition Road façade of V&A, July 2019. Photo author’s own. Figure 3 (Page 22) Photo of entrance to V&A Sackler Courtyard, September 2019. Photo author’s own. Figure 4 (Page 24) Photo of family viewing V&A bomb damage engravings, September 2019. Photo author’s own. Figure 5 (Page 29) Photo of Kensington Council Bomb Incident Card for 19 April 1941 Exhibition Road Incident. Kensington and Chelsea Library Archive. Photo author’s own. Figure 6 (Page 30) Photo of Kensington Council Bomb Incident Card for 3 July 1944 Exhibition Road Incident. Kensington and Chelsea Library Archive. Photo author’s own. Figure 7 (Page 31) Scan of South Kensington damage map section. Laurence Ward, The London County Council Bomb Damage Maps, 1939-45 (London: Thames & Hudson, 2015). Scan taken by author. Figure 8 (Page 32) Still from Britain at War. Britain at War dir. Rosie Newman (1946) Imperial War Museum Object MGH 3773, <Available at https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060038940> [accessed 8 October 2019]. Figure 9 (Page 32) Still from Britain at War. Britain at War dir. Rosie Newman (1946) Imperial War Museum Object MGH 3773, <Available at https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060038940>