Our display The Wallace Collection at War reveals how Hertford House briefly served as a stage for cultural diplomacy and the shaping of public opinion. 

Discover more about how exhibitions were used for public communication with art and design historian Dr Harriet Atkinson as she traces this intriguing and overlooked history. She will reveal how exhibitions became part of Britain’s wartime propaganda armoury and a powerful means of signalling political solidarities. You will learn how these exhibitions were developed by several remarkable makers including artists John Heartfield and Oskar Kokoschka, designers Misha Black and FHK Henrion, photographer Edith Tudor-Hart, and architect Ernő Goldfinger.  

About the speaker:  Dr Harriet Atkinson teaches and researches art and design history at University of Brighton’s Centre for Design History, where she leads a research strand on Design Activism. She also leads the MA, Curating Collections and Heritage. Her recent research has focused on art and design for propaganda, protest, resistance and solidarities in Britain, resulting in the book Showing Resistance: propaganda and modernist exhibitions in Britain, 1933-53 (Manchester University Press, 2024), the films Art on the Streets (2023, screening at Tate Britain from June 2024 to March 2026), and Designing from Home (2025) and the podcast series ‘Graphic Interventions’. Harriet is currently part of the research team for the major, international project: ‘Graphic Design Histories for Creative Dissent: Archiving and Ethical Challenges’, focusing on graphic objects of street protest for global movements across Brazil, South Africa and the UK, from 1950 to the present. 

Take part at the museum: Join us at the museum for this special talk, followed by drinks, book signing and after-hours access to the display until 20.45. 

Watch online: This talk will also be broadcast live from the museum via Zoom. Online ticketholders will be emailed a link to join 24 hours in advance. Ticketholders will also receive a link to view a recording of the talk, which will be available for two weeks. 

Background Image: AIA for Liberty Exhibition (entrance), FHK Henrion Archive, University of Brighton Design Archives