The pumping music of a fashion runway combined with that of a marching band drew me into the Camouflage exhibit currently running at the Canadian National War Museum.The themes in the exhibit: Conceal, Distort, Deceive and Disguise explore the different uses of camouflage throughout history. There are a variety of fascinating artifacts to see from historic military uniforms, to cubist paintings and haute couture gowns. Each of the pieces on display has an interesting story to tell. One of my favorites was a pair of sandal boots (1967 Courtesy of the Bata Shoe Museum) that were used for military purposes. The bottoms of the boots are imprinted with an enemies tread (the footprint of the inhabitants rope sandal) so they would leave no print when encroaching on enemy territory - how smart!
I was also impressed with how interactive the exhibit was from a chance to try on military uniforms for different terrain to building your own disguised city. Camouflage is little kid and big kid friendly;)
Having an interest in the history of design I was excited to see this was the major focus of the exhibit. It would have been great to learn more about how successful the use of the camo techniques actually were on the battlefield as some of these inventions on display, although impressive, seemed a bit bizarre (building fake tree structures on the battlefield to hide in?).
It sounds like there has been work done on the exhibit since the first showing at the Imperial War Museum in Britain including some new additions – particularly on aspects of the Canadian history of camouflage. Hopefully these museums will continue to build a base of knowledge on this fascinating subject.
Camouflage is on display at the Canada National War Museum from June 5, 2009 to January 3, 2010. See the website for cost of admission or visit on a Thursday night when it is FREE:) A really great show that should not be missed!
