The changing face of wartime correspondence

From November 2010 till March 2011, the State Library of Queensland hosted a travelling exhibition from the Australian War Memorial. Of Love and War examined the impact of war and conflict on the relationships between servicemen, their sweethearts, children, parents and others they left behind. Visitors will be transported to a time where much of Australia’s population were without their loved ones. Despite this separation over vast distances, love still managed to flourish and survive, romances continued and relationships were cemented through letters, gifts and telegrams.

Moving forward to 2010, technology has opened up a whole new world of communication for servicemen and women and their loved ones. Email, Skype, mobile phones and the Internet have all contributed to the way in which we communicate not only on a daily basis, but also in times and areas of conflict and turmoil.

Letters, pictures, telegrams and much more tell us stories of times gone by. They are a snap shot into the past and a documented record of our history. Will this be the case in years to come? Will institutions such as libraries and museums still be able to collect this important information? How will we record conversations when we no longer use letters? Should we be making a concerted effort to find ways and means in which to document this history?

Join ex-military personnel and guests as they take you on a journey through the years, back to a time where it was simpler to preserve the physical evidence of wartime, love and relationships and examine the difficulties of doing the same in our 21st century, technology driven lives.

When: Wed 10 Nov, 2010. 6pm
Where: slq Auditorium 1, level 2

Duration: 1:09:14 hours