NMS will use £1m grant for research into the ‘significant shadow’ of the Cold War 6 Jul 2021

National Museums Scotland has received a £1m grant from the Arts & Humanities Research Council to explore how the Cold War features in museums in the UK and Europe. Because the ‘war’ didn’t break out into violent conflict, it has been relatively harder to tell its story, but it can be manifested through peace and protest material, civil defence collections, and by exploring the material legacies of the relationship between society, technology, and the military. ‘Materialising the Cold War’ will be researched over three years in a team led by NMS’s  Dr Sam Alberti and the University of Stirling’s Holger Nehring. It will culminate in a major exhibition on Scotland and the Cold War, accompanied by schools programming, publications and events. NMS Director Dr Chris Breward said “the Cold War casts a significant shadow over the second half of the 20th century, yet the intangible nature of this period of geopolitical tension makes it difficult to convey in museums. This generous grant from the AHRC will allow us to work with partners across the UK and Europe to conduct in-depth research into the representation of the Cold War in museum collections” NMS