Imperial War Museums (IWM) travel to Israel with ICOM UK – British Council Travel Grant

Clare Lawlor, Producer – Public Engagement and Learning at the Imperial War Museums (IWM) travelled to Israel in January 2023 with an ICOM UK – British Council Travel Grant. This is the report from Clare’s visit.

As part of the latest phase of transformation at IWM London, the museum planned on opening ground-breaking new Second World War and Holocaust Galleries in Spring 2021. In response to the new galleries, academic research and new ways of engaging with audiences, the Public Engagement and Learning team were tasked with producing an innovative new learning programme for secondary students visiting the new galleries with an emphasis on critical thinking about the past and IWM’s collection.

IWM wanted to establish a study visit to Yad Vashem – The World Holocaust Remembrance Center to share best practice in the field of Holocaust education and to develop links and potential partnership work with their education and learning specialists. As a result of the pandemic, this visit was delayed and took place after the new galleries opened. Surprisingly, the pandemic helped to establish more frequent contact with Yad Vashem and meant that a good working relationship was already established by the time the visit took place.