Photo Caption: The World Remembers Project recognizes the men and women who died in the First World War, 100 years ago. VIU is participating in the project with a digital display located in a prominent window of the Welcome Centre, Building 300. The display of individual names runs for 11 hours daily, beginning at 8:30 pm until sunrise on Nov. 11.
October 7, 2015 - 10:00am
As dusk falls between Oct. 4 and Remembrance Day, Nov. 11, the names of more than 519,000 soldiers killed in the First World War will appear, one by one, on a digital screen in Vancouver Island University’s (VIU) Welcome Centre (Building 300).
VIU has joined “The World Remembers Project,” an international remembrance, education and reconciliation project begun by Canadian actor and director R.H. Thomson. As part of five years of remembrance recognizing the centenary of the First World War, VIU’s History department and its Canadian Letter and Images (CLIP) project invite the public to view the display of names, and remember the men and women who lost their lives in the Great War 100 years ago.
“VIU is honoured to be participating in The World Remembers Project, which recognizes the centennial of the First World War and commemorates those who lost their lives during this conflict,” said Dr. Ralph Nilson, VIU’s President & Vice-Chancellor. “The project gives us the space to pause and reflect on the sacrifices made by those who lost their lives in the Great War, through a remembrance of each person who died in that world-changing conflict 100 years ago.”
More than 519,000 names of soldiers who lost their lives from the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, Australia, the Czech Republic, Italy, New Zealand, Slovenia and the former British Indian Army will appear.
The display runs for eleven hours each day, with each name programmed to appear at a precise day, hour and minute. For those who wish to remember a person who was killed in the First World War, they can learn the exact time it will appear on the screen, and also on the website, by entering the name at www.theworldremembers.org.
The screen displaying The World Remembers Project names is visible from just outside the Welcome Centre, for those who wish to come to campus to view names as they appear from 8:30 pm to 7:10 am. The public is invited to a reception recognizing The World Remembers Project on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 7:30 pm. Dr. Stephen Davies, History professor and CLIP project director, will provide a background on the project and its significance, followed by brief remarks from Dr. Nilson.
VIU will continue its participation in The World Remembers Project through the remaining years of the worldwide First World War centenary, 2014-2018.
The CLIP project is an intimate online archive of the Canadian war experience, as told through the letters and images of Canadians themselves. See www.canadianletters.ca.
More Information
For more information on The World Remember Project, visitwww.theworldremembers.org.
For more information on The Canadian Letters & Images Project, see www.canadianletters.ca
Tags: In the Community
