By Isle of Wight Observer
Forty people attended the opening of Carisbrooke Castle museum’s VE Day 80: Unlocking Stories audio-visual exhibition, at Lord Louis Library in Newport, on Wednesday, December 10.
The exhibition is the result of 20 oral history interviews carried out this year, with people who were living on the Isle of Wight during WWII.
Twelve of the interviewees, aged between 83 and 98, attended the launch, alongside family members and friends.
All of those interviewed were children during the war, growing up in towns and villages across the Island. Their memories have been curated to present life during wartime from a child’s perspective, offering insights into family life, school days, and childhood experiences.
Visitors to the exhibition can listen to the recordings at a dedicated listening station. The interviews are illustrated using family photographs supplied by participants, alongside images from the Carisbrooke Castle museum collection.
The exhibition will remain at Lord Louis Library until January 5, before touring Island libraries. It will be at Freshwater Library from January 6 to 19, Ventnor Library from January 20 to February 2, Sandown Library from February 3 to 16, Ryde Library from February 17 to March 2, and Cowes Library from March 3 to 17.
In April, the exhibition will move to Carisbrooke Castle museum, where it will become a permanent listening station within the Island Voices oral history collection. Established in 2015, the collection now contains more than 200 recordings from a range of projects.