Contributors
Maiken Umbach
Maiken Umbach is Professor of Modern History at the University of Nottingham. She works on photography in Nazi Germany, exploring how ordinary Germans charted their relationship with the Nazi regime in photo albums, and asking how persecuted groups used photography to create alternative visual stories. Recent books include "Photography, Migration, and Identity: A German-Jewish-American Story" (with S Sulzener, 2018) and "Private Life and Privacy in Nazi Germany" (ed with E Harvey, J Hurter, A Wirsching, 2019).
Maiken is currently directing an AHRC research project on 'Photography as Political Practice during National Socialism', which has informed all aspects of this exhibition.
Curatorial Team
The curatorial team at the National Holocaust Centre and Museum manages a growing, internationally significant collection and work hard to underpin this with in-depth, rigorous provenance and academic research. Alongside this, the team have developed meaningful relationships with survivors over many years, resulting in a rich testimony collection.
The team have supported the ‘Eye as Witness’ project by providing content from the Centre’s collection and advising on the sensitivity and ethics involved in working on such precious and complex material.
Claudia Linda Reese
Dr Claudia Linda Reese is Senior Researcher at the National Holocaust Centre and Museum.
Her main interest in the development of the “The Eye as Witness exhibition” was to explore new ways of interpreting photography for exhibitions and Holocaust education. A key question for her work is how the voice of the victim – testimonies, artefacts or documents – can be integrated into the narration of the Holocaust and made relevant for contemporary audiences.
In her previous work for the Centre Claudia developed the historical concept for the Virtual Journey together with Prof. C. Szejnmann and an online exhibition The Journey exhibition trail based on it.
Lina Selander
Lina Selander lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.
Selander’s films and installations can be read as compositions or thought models, where ideas and conditions are explored and weighed. She examines relationships between memory and perception, photography and film, and language and image.
Lina Selander’s solo shows include Kunst Haus Wien; Argos – Centre for Art and Media, Brussels; Iniva, London; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; VOX – Centre de l’image contemporaine, Montréal. She was the Swedish representative at the Venice Biennale 2015. A selection of her group shows include: The Kyiv Biennale 2015; Seoul Media City Biennale 2014; Manifesta 2012 in Belgium.
Gary Mills
Gary Mills is Associate Professor in History Education at the University of Nottingham. He is Chair of the Academic Advisory Board and Education Advisor at The National Holocaust Centre and Museum. His research interests are centred on the teaching of the Holocaust and other genocides.
He has held research awards from The British Council to work with history teachers in Rwanda and is currently a theme leader and Co PI on two AHRC funded projects looking at the use of testimony and photography in classroom settings. With US colleagues he also holds a Spencer Foundation award researching the use of Virtual Interactive Holocaust Survivor Testimony in museums and classrooms.
Louise Stafford
Louise Stafford is Director of Learning at the National Holocaust Centre and Museum.
She studied at the University of Cambridge and, prior to joining the Centre, taught in UK secondary schools.
She defines and implements the learning strategy of the Centre. Her research exploring ‘Context is Key. A Study on Primary-Aged Children’s Learning with Testimonies of Holocaust Survivors’ (co-author Griffiths) was published in ‘Interactions: Explorations of Good Practice in Educational Work with Video Testimonies of Victims of National Socialism’ (Editors Dreier, Laumer and Wein).
Dr Paul Tennent
Dr Paul Tennent is an Assistant Professor in the Mixed Reality Laboratory in the School of Computer Science at Nottingham University. His principal research area is multi-sensory virtual reality, and how it might be applied in arts and cultural contexts.
Typically following a cross-disciplinary practice led approach, and often collaborating with artists, his work has been exhibited around the world, with these ‘in the wild’ experiences serving to formulate questions and new theories about design and interaction. He has published more than 50 peer reviewed papers in diverse fields such as games, museum studies, thrill and accessibility.
Kelly Scott
From a background in teaching, Kelly joined the National Holocaust Centre and Museum in April 2019 as Project Educator on the ‘Building a Stronger Britain Together’ scheme, focusing on raising awareness of the impact of persecution and tackling hate crime in schools across the East Midlands.
As Exhibition Educator for The Eye as Witness, Kelly will liaise closely with all the hosting venues to provide educational support and resources, both for the exhibition on site and for outreach work, as well as organising workshops and events tailored to the individual audience needs of the various venues.
Bright White
Bright White is an interpretative design consultancy based in York, UK. Since their formation in 2004 Bright White has designed and delivered hundreds of innovative projects in the cultural sector, within the UK, Europe and beyond. Bright White was recently awarded an NT100 place, an award that celebrates the use of technology for positive change, for their involvement in the Forever Project.
For the Eye As Witness touring exhibition Bright White have been responsible for the overall design and careful visual presentation of the sensitive subject matter.