Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to host opening reception for new exhibition

Florida State University’s Institute on World War II and the Human Experience (http://ww2.fsu.edu) will host an exhibition, “The Human Experience,” at the FSU Museum of Fine Arts from Feb. 13 to March 29, as well as a Writers’ Weekend on Feb. 14-15.

 

The exhibition kicks off with a free, public reception at the Museum of Fine Arts., 530 W. Call St., from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 13. “The Human Experience” will focus on the individual, with photographs from the series “Witness to War.” Images from the Austin Collection of the Imperial Family in post-World War II Japan will also be shared; these were created by professional and amateur artists to document the war. In addition, there are servicemen/women’s letter’s home containing casual and elaborate drawings and stories, as well as letters sent from the home front to soldiers in the various theaters of operation. Other artifacts include the paratrooper escape-route silk scarves that were maps of enemy-held territories, military gear, a very rare pair of Japanese standing binoculars, scale models of naval and air force transport, and ephemera such as the Betty Grable pinup.

On the first weekend of the exhibition, join World War II Institute director Kurt Piehler for the World War II Writer’s Weekend (http://ww2.fsu.edu/Writer-s-Weekend), a free, public event that features talks and book signings by authors of a range of works on the war. Speakers include Robert Gellately (“Stalin’s Curse”), Michael Neiberg (“The Blood of Free Men: The Liberation of Paris”), Whitney Bendeck (“‘A’ Force: The Origins of British Deception During the Second World War”) and Peter Dunbar (“Before They Were Black Sheep”). In celebration of Valentine’s Day weekend, FSU student-veterans will read some of the unpublished love letters of the World War II generation that are part of the collection of the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience.

For a number of years, Patrick Rowe has researched the satirical work of Bill Mauldin, the G.I.’s most sympathetic friend, compiling a collection of paintings, drawings and prints by the Pulitzer Prize-winning artist. The Rowe Collection also includes historical flags, each one with a story; unusual memorabilia; and powerfully designed posters from the era. Rowe’s printed broadsides document the history of America’s war effort at home. Such images include Norman Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms” and other posters intended to sell war bonds or to prevent “loose lips” from sinking ships.