Creating art during Britain's troubled times

A country at war. An economic maelstrom. Immigration from across Europe.

A picture of modern day Britain? No, but it could be.

Restless Times is a new exhibition that looks at Britain between 1914 and 1945 and examines the art that came out of that period and, in particular, how the difficulties and challenges of the times inspired the country's artists.

"The parallels with today are surprisingly strong," says Sian Brown, head of curation at Sheffield Millennium Galleries.

Perhaps, then, the exhibition which harks back to the past, might give a glimpse into what the art of the immediate future may look like.

"During that period, there was obviously the two world wars, which have a modern day parallel. While it's not the same as what is happening today, Britain is a country engaged in wars abroad," says Brown.

"It was also the period of the stock market crash and the Great Depression which you can draw similar obvious parallels to today and the economic recession we

are in.

"Add to that the fact that, during the period there was an influx of people into Britain as a result of the wars and again, over the past decade we have seen high levels of immigration into the country. All of those things together create this surprising number of links between Britain in that period and contemporary Britain."

Restless Times looks at this momentous period for Britain and examines how it became a critical point in the development of modern British art. Brown says: "While it was an era of difficulty and uncertainty, it brought with it a remarkable spirit of creativity and invention."

Artists rode on this wave of creativity inspired by the fundamental changes in the country and audiences saw works of art which were attempts to understand and explain this changing world. The enormous exhibition, which is being staged at Sheffield's Millennium Gallery, is co-curated by Brown and Sheffield's curator of visual art Louisa Briggs.

The exhibition is part of the Great British Art Debate, a partnership project between Tate Britain, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service and Museums Sheffield – all of which have contributed work to Restless Times.

The four-year project is a collaboration which aims to explore British identity through national and regional art collections and get people thinking about what it means to be British, how that is reflected in the country's art collections.

The project was officially launched in Sheffield earlier this year, with the Millennium Gallery's previous exhibition Watercolour in Britain.

Restless Times is made up of more than 160 works of art, which have been brought to Sheffield from around the country.

In order to stage the exhibition, which is now open and will visit all the other partner organisations – including the Tate – Brown and Briggs had to pitch it as an idea.

Brown says: "When we were starting the Great British Art Debate and looking at the exhibition ideas we had, this was one we were particularly interested in staging.

"We thought it was a strong concept, but we also thought that it would give us the opportunity to show some really fabulous work here

in Sheffield."

Fortunately, when the two Sheffield curators pitched the idea to a panel, everyone agreed that looking at art created during this momentous period of Britain's history in order to learn what it could tell us about today, was a strong one. Works by David Bomberg, Evelyn Dunbar, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore are included in the significant show.

The exhibition is made up of five different sections – Embracing the Modern, Experiences of War, Finding Home, Daily Struggles and Inner Worlds.

There is also a working cinema in the middle of the exhibition space, fitted out with period red velvet seats and with Path films of the day being screened.

Works on show include David Bomberg's enormous painting In the Hold and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska's sculpture Bird Swallowing a Fish, both of which have come from the Tate's collection in London and which the curators describe as star pieces of the exhibition.

Brown says: "We have been really lucky to draw loans from collections at the Tate, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Imperial War Museum, as well as the other partner venues. Work has come from as far away as Aberdeen down to Eastbourne, so it really is a significant collection

of work."

The exhibition also features work from the museum's own collection, some of which has not been seen for more than a decade.

"That's the most thrilling thing about bringing together such a big exhibition," says Brown. "It means audiences get the chance to see work that they would never otherwise have a chance to see outside the buildings that own them. It also means that they get to see work that we have in our collections, that they may not realise we have here in Sheffield. We have paintings, sculptures, works on paper. It really is a very rich exhibition."

Restless Times Art in Britain 1914-1945, Sheffield Millennium Galleries, to January 30.