The Canadian War Museum presents The World Remembers

Canadian Museum of History

OTTAWA, Sept. 29, 2016 /CNW/ - Today, the Canadian War Museum launched the 2016 version of The World Remembers, a multi-year, international effort created by Canadian actor R. H. Thomson and his production partner Martin Conboy to commemorate the centenary of the First World War. The Canadian War Museum is one of 60 participating institutions from across Canada and around the world.

"The unprecedented loss of life during the First World War devastated nations, communities and families. Death on this scale is difficult to imagine," said Stephen Quick, Director General of the Canadian War Museum. "The projection of the individual names as part of The World Remembers project provides visitors with another way to see and understand these losses from a very personal perspective."

Over the five centenary years, The World Remembers video project will commemorate the millions of soldiers, nurses and other military personnel from participating nations killed in the First World War. The conflict changed the course of history, redrew borders, toppled empires and engaged more than 40 nations in a worldwide conflict. The project honours losses on both sides of the conflict, and looks to the future with hope and understanding.

"A personal connection to the almost unimaginable history of the First World War is what we want to provide with the names display," said R. H. Thomson. "Many have found it a moving experience just to silently watch the names, appreciating that each name is a life lost, while others have discovered details of a relative of which they had little knowledge.'"

The 2016 installation remembers the approximately 600,000 individuals who died in the year 1916. During the course of the installation, their names will be projected at the Canadian War Museum and at museums, schools, universities and libraries around the world, as well as appearing online. Some of the key museums participating include the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Germany; In Flanders Fields, Belgium; the National World War I Museum, Kansas City, Missouri, USA; and the Derby Museum, England.

Projecting the individual names will take 44 days, underlining the extraordinary human cost of the First World War during 1916. The last name will appear at sunset on Remembrance Day, November 11. For more detailed background information about the project, please visit www.theworldremembers.org. 

The Canadian War Museum is Canada's national museum of military history. Its mission is to promote public understanding of Canada's military history in its personal, national and international dimensions. Work of the Canadian War Museum is made possible, in part, through financial support from the Government of Canada.

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SOURCE Canadian Museum of History

Image with caption: "The Canadian War Museum presents The World Remembers (CNW Group/Canadian Museum of History)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160929_C6015_PHOTO_EN_785126.jpg

Media contacts: Avra Gibbs Lamey, Senior Communications and Media Relations Officer, Canadian War Museum, Telephone: [phone], [email protected]; R. H. Thomson, Producer, The World Remembers, Telephone: [phone]