What do you see in this picture? What is happening, when do you think it was taken? Why are they so happy?
The photo was taken in London on 8th May 1945 which was VE day.
What is VE day about?
VE days stands for Victory in Europe day. 8th May 1945 was the end of World War 2; the end of 6 years of war that bought suffering to whole populations and countries; millions of people had their homes and families destroyed, millions died.
When news broke of the end of the war, tens of thousands of people flooded on to the streets and rejoiced.
The photo below shows Prime Minister below addressing crowds at Whitehall, London.
What do you notice about the sign he makes?
Winston Churchill made a radio broadcast to the nation to welcome the news that War had ended, but he also warned the people, "We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing, but let us not forget for a moment the toil and efforts that lie ahead."
Why did he say that? What did he mean?
Consider this art work, created in 2025. What do you see in the picture? Look closely, is there a message in this piece of art, what is the artist thinking about, what are the themes?
The art is created by Cristina Daura and commissioned by the Imperial War Museum to celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE day.
Why do you think Cristina has chosen to depict seeds and flowers? Why a hand picking up a seed with V on it?
Cristina explains:
"Victory is both a strong and fragile concept."
How can something be both strong and fragile at the same time?
Cristina is showing victory at the end of conflict, " as if it were a seed that must be nurtured in order to thrive."
What does this mean? How can victory be like a seed?
"Like a flower, victory must be taken care of in order to be re-gifted to future generations."
How can you re-gift victory?
VE day happened 80 years ago and Cristina says at first she didn't think she had a close personal connection to the event, But she has changed her mind; she says today everyone has a connection.
How can we have a connection to something that happened 80 years ago?
"What we are living now is a result, in part, of that day. The Europe that we know, the way we live."
What do you think Cristina means by "The Europe that we know"?
What was Europe like at the end of WW2? How is it different today?
Some people still say that people from different countries are too different to get along, cannot help each other, cannot work together... what do you think Cristina is saying with her art?
What do you think the people celebrating VE day in 1945 would hope for the world 80 years later - what do you think they wanted the future to hold?
Can we learn lessons from history?
What do we say in our school about people who are from different countries working together and helping each other?
Why is this about No Outsiders?
Which British Value is this about?
Thank you to the Imperial War Museum website for the brilliant resources on their website (link at top of page)
I provide power point versions of these assemblies every Friday for schools - message me on the contact website contact form to join the free mailing list.
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