The Historial de la Grande Guerre was the museum in Peronne focusing the battle of the Somme. The floor to ceiling windows with white walls allowed for sunlight to pour in and have the artifacts speak for themselves. Taking a minimalist perspective the museum chose to only include two percent of their collection of over 70,000 objects. The pieces aspects of the war through the perspective of the both the soldier and those in the homefront and then are seperated into France, Germany and Britain. I found it very interesting to see the various views of the war, especially the similarities that could be drawn from one country to another. The center two rooms which featured the countries during the war were especially powerful. The pieces were displayed in open, marble pits served two purposes to display the objects in a way that they could be seen in an easily-viewed perspective as well as to evoke sentiments of the war. The marble served as a reminder of the white chalk of the Somme while having the uniforms and objects laid down shows them as resting, or dead, which appears to be vulnerable and personal. While much of the museums layout has been controversial it also serves as a basis for others to emmulate. I think that this museum served its purpose in informing while sparking new interest; I would easily say that it has been the best that we have seen and would be eager to return and seen the ever evolving collection.
Christina Ruscoff
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