An exhibition which gives a voice to soldiers serving in Afghanistan has proved such a winner with visitors to mima in Middlesbrough that its run has been extended by two more months.
Diary Rooms, which reveals the innermost thoughts of soldiers - several from the North East - under daily fire in the war zone, has struck a chord not just with local residents but also tourists who have raved about it on Trip Advisor.
It’s a huge boost for both the art gallery and Derek Eland who created the exhibition while working as an official war artist with the British Army in Helmand in 2011.
And he now has big plans for it to be archived at Mima and hopes for it to tour America.
It’s the result of setting up “diary rooms” in Afghanistan where he encouraged servicemen and women, including Afghan forces, to fill in blank postcards with their feelings about the realities of their daily lives.
Among those keen to take part were members of a counter IED unit in the wake of the death of 34-year-old Sergeant Major Charles Wood, a bomb disposal expert from Middlesbrough, who was killed days after arranging Christmas Day dinner for 150 soldiers.
Many of the cards, which were initially displayed on the walls of the diary rooms, describe the idea of two wars: one of bullets and bombs and another inside a soldier’s head at times of quiet.
They are now displayed in a specially-built version of a diary room at Mima where the exhibition is dedicated to Irish Guardsman Colum McGeown, who wrote of his imminent leave home only to then lose his legs in an explosion, and soldier David Dalzell who was killed days after writing his postcard.
Since it opened last November it has been fascinating visitors who are moved not just by accounts of harrowing experiences endured on the front line, many written while still raw, but also the humour and spirit shown by the troops.
One online review on Trip Advisor reads: “This exhibition of their responses is reinforced with the sights and sounds of war and I found it innovative, challenging and eye-opening.
“It is another view of a contemporary conflict everyone should consider.”
The decision to extend its run for two months beyond the planned closing date follows their feedback and Eland is delighted at the news.
“The wall of responses from mima visitors is now as big as the exhibition itself,” he said.
“The public comments are honest, divergent and often moving. They represent the collective response to war and have become an important element of the work, a public voice.”
Viewers are touched by the soldiers’ shared fears and hopes for the future and the mention little things, such as a letter of appreciation from schoolchildren, that make a difference to them.
A “Diary Wall” is set aside for visitors to write down their own responses to what they see and this is now covered in hundreds of notes. They include ones by students from Darlington’s Hummersknott Academy who talked to Eland about the project.
“I’ve been overwhelmed by the response,” said Eland who has been working as a mentor artist at the gallery.
“Hundreds and hundreds of people who have seen the exhibition have responded by writing their own personal thoughts on card and paper.”
He added: “An enormous number of people have had an emotional reaction to the work, many reduced to tears. As an artist this is humbling.
“I’ve also been very touched by the emails I’ve received from the public, the press reviews and comments made on social media.”
Diary Rooms will now run until April 30 and Eland next wants to secure its future.
“My hope is that this work goes into the Mima permanent collection and from there can be loaned within the UK.
“The messages and stories from the Diary Rooms work are universal to any conflict at any time in history and should be seen again.
“I’m also discussing with Mima the possibility of the work going to a partner gallery in the US, perhaps as the beginning of a gallery tour of the States.”
A catalogue is also available at the gallery with a £1 of every £12.99 sale going to veterans’ mental health charity Combat Stress.
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