ARTISTS from nations who fought in World War One are taking part in an exhibition in Ealing to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1914 Christmas Truce.
Crossing the Field at The Pitzhanger Manor House & Gallery recounts this unique event, with paintings, photography, ceramics, drawings and film by artists from Britain, France, Belgium and Germany.
The free exhibition gives different perspectives of the Great War and the humanity of the truce - a few hours of impromptu ceasefire on Christmas Day - when German and British troops exchanged gifts, played football and sang festive carols in no man’s land on the Western Front.
Curator Theun Vonckx describes the truce as a segment of history that is something completely different.
He said: “It’s not about heroic battles or enemies fighting each other - it’s really about humanity.”
The exhibition features works by British photographer Paul Hodgson, based on the Battle of the Somme, French artist Eric Monbel's paintings of war scenes on medical stretchers, and panoramas of the French countryside of 1913 by German painter Thomas Lohmann.
Carol Swords, programme manager of the exhibition, said: “The Christmas truce continues to resonate a century after the event took place – an enduring example of the power of sport during a time of strife.”
This will be the final exhibition at the gallery before it closes for three years for a major redevelopment.
The show will run until January 10.
For more information visit http://www.pitzhanger.org.uk/whats-on/crossing-field-wwi-football-christmas-truce
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