TO MARK the 70th anniversary of the opening of the Isle of Man internment camps, Barclays Wealth teamed up with the Sayle Gallery and the Ben Uri Gallery in London to bring the exhibition ‘Forced Journeys’ to the Island.

The exhibition featured almost 90 works by artists of mostly German and Austrian origin and examines the impact of internment on the life and work of a group of refugee artists in exile in Britain during the Second World War.

Works are drawn from a number of public institutions including the Imperial War Museum, London; Bruton Museum, Somerset; Hatton Gallery, Newcastle; Manx Museum, Isle of Man; the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent; and the University of Warwick; as well as Ben Uri’s own collection and a number of significant private collections. The Imperial War Museum and the Manx Museum, Isle of Man has also provided invaluable assistance.

To reflect the exhibition’s new location in Douglas, Ben Uri curators revised the original exhibition to focus on the work of internee artists, particularly those held in internment camps on the Isle of Man. There were 10 internment camps in the Isle of Man but the main camp for artists was in Hutchinson Square, Douglas. The Isle of Man was used by the British Government for the internment of enemy aliens during both World Wars.

To help celebrate the success of the exhibition, Barclays Wealth hosted a special evening viewing with a gallery tour and commentary from Yvonne Cresswell, Curator of Social History at Manx National Heritage. Yvonne has been in post for Manx National Heritage for 23 years and curated the ‘Living with the Wire’ exhibition at the Manx Museum and wrote the accompanying publication about civilian internment on the Isle of Man.

A number of Barclays Wealth staff, clients and friends attended the event and were joined by Lieutenant Governor His Excellency Vice Admiral Sir Paul Haddacks KCB and Lady Haddacks.

Greg Ellison, Managing Director of Barclays Wealth said, “Barclays Wealth is delighted to be able to sponsor the Forced Journeys exhibition at the Sayle Gallery. The exhibition has been a resounding success during its time on the Island and we wanted to mark this achievement with a private viewing at the gallery with the organisers and curators.

“Our guests thoroughly enjoyed the tour and were interested to hear the colourful history behind these works of art. It is vital that local people are given the opportunity to view these works which are of international importance. The Forced Journeys exhibition sponsorship further demonstrates Barclays Wealth’s commitment to the arts throughout the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.”

Photo: Yvonne Cresswell explains

the exhibits at the Sayle Gallery