If I Write Again,
2024
Over 1000 WWI letters printed on canvas sewn into a tent and trench bags
22 x 19 x 26 feet’
In Flanders Fields Museum
This installation consists of nine tents joined together with buttons, referencing a World War I tent design from the collection of the In Flanders Fields Museum. Each tent measures 1.60 by 1.60 meters. Inside, over 100 wartime letters (each from a different family) are reprinted on canvas and stitched together, forming the larger structure. These letters weave together nine distinct stories from the war, with many of them written by parents searching for their deceased sons.
IFFDC032 Sample letter used in the collection. Julia, Marguerite and Esther Boudry, children in exile writing home. Julia Boudry writes a beautifully decorated New Years letter to her parents, December 1916 Julia Boudry writes a heartbreaking letter that she wants to run away from the school in France, 1918
Last letter of Francis (Frank) Warren to his mother Mary, 4th April 1918 (collection IFFM) Since I last wrote I have been down to the Base but am now rejoining the battalion in the line. By the way, in case I have been reported missing within the last week or so you should know that I have been among a party of stragglers and have been away from the battalion for about a fortnight. They do not usually take very long to report anyone missing but I hope you have not had such a report on account of the worry it would cause to you all at home.
Sample Letter from the In Flanders Fields Museum Used in the Installation
Sample Letter from the In Flanders Fields Museum Used in the Installation
Sample Letter from the In Flanders Fields Museum Used in the Installation
Sample Letter from the In Flanders Fields Museum Used in the Installation
IFFDC034 Sample Letter from the In Flanders Fields Museum Used in the Installation The very extensive war correspondence of the Lodewijk Raes with his family
Sample Letter from the In Flanders Fields Museum Used in the Installation
Sample Letter from the In Flanders Fields Museum Used in the Installation
Sample Letter from the In Flanders Fields Museum Used in the Installation