IWM North suffers from an identity crisis. As a museum with the words Imperial and War in the title, some people think that we must be about military campaigns, dates and victories. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes we do display tanks and guns and bombs and all the paraphernalia of warfare and conflict, but our message is far more challenging and complex.
At Imperial War Museums we believe it is important to communicate the causes, course and consequences of modern conflict in a courageous and authoritative way that is relevant to our audiences and empathetic with people’s experiences. Our reason being – whether we recognise it or not – war has shaped all our lives and continues to do so – some more personally and tragically than others.