Tony Blair at War: Decision Iraq exhibition at the Canadian War Museum
February 28, 2008 |
Tony Blair at War: Decision Iraq exhibition at the Canadian War Museum
Ottawa, Ontario, February 27, 2008 — The Canadian War Museum is pleased to present Tony Blair at War: Decision Iraq, a new exhibition of 24 photographs by world-renowned photojournalist Nick Danziger. The exhibition is presented in the Lt-Col John McCrae Gallery from February 27 to May 4, 2008.
“This exhibition is a fantastic opportunity for visitors to see contemporary history in the making,” stated Mark O’Neill, the War Museum’s Director General. “It provides an insider’s view of the decision-making process leading to the war in Iraq and examines the crucial role played by leaders in shaping history.”
In March 2003, photojournalist Nick Danziger and Times (of London) Literary Supplement editor Peter Stothard began what became a month-long, ground-breaking study of a British prime minister at war. Originally a routine assignment to mark Tony Blair’s 50th birthday for The Saturday Times Magazine, it grew into a unique study of a leader facing down a divided nation and deploying British forces in the United States-led effort to oust Saddam Hussein. Danziger and Stothard gained unprecedented access to Blair’s inner circle, often wondering why they were not asked to leave, staying as far as possible in the background as the extraordinary story of diplomacy and war unfolded.
Five years after the invasion of Iraq, these photographs provide a remarkable insight into a leader’s role in one of the defining events of our times.
Danziger will speak about his experiences in documenting this project in a public lecture on Thursday, February 28 at 7 p.m. in the Museum’s Barney Danson Theatre.
An exhibition of photographs by Nick Danziger, presented in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom.
Media Information:
Pierre Leduc
Acting Manager, Communications
Canadian War Museum
Telephone: 819 776-8607
E-mail: pierre.leduc@warmuseum.ca.
BACKGROUNDER
Nick Danziger
Born in 1958, Nick Danziger attended the Chelsea School of Art in London, and later became a visiting lecturer at art schools and universities while mounting one-man exhibitions of his artwork in London and New York. His photographs have appeared in newspapers and magazines worldwide and exhibited in museums, galleries and art centres. In 1982, he was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship and published Danziger’s Travels, which became an immediate bestseller. Follow-up books Danziger’s Adventures and Danziger’s Britain were met with critical acclaim.
In June 1991, Nick Danziger’s documentary film War, Lives and Videotape (based on the children abandoned in the Marastoon mental asylum in Kabul) was shown as part of the BBC’s Video Diaries series and subsequently won the prestigious Prix Italia for best television documentary. His other television documentaries include Adventures in the Land of SPLAJ, where he journeys across Libya to meet Colonel Qadafi; Down and Out in Paris and London, a reworking of George Orwell’s classic journey; and French Letters, a series of short films documenting different aspects of French life. His most recent documentary films include AIDS: The Global Killer, shot in Zambia, Russia and the United King