TIL 7 July 2017

4
LIBERTY FESTIVAL RETURNS TO
QUEEN ELIZABETH OLYMPIC PARK
As London welcomes a summer of
world athletics, visitors can enjoy a free
summer day out for all the family at
Liberty Festival. On Saturday 15 July at
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, from
13.30-18.30, go along and check out the
incredible line up of deaf and disability
arts. You’ll also be able to have a go at a
range of activities and sports. Try out
wheelchair basketball, boccia, sitting
volleyball and even new age kurling.
With live music, dance, circus, street
theatre, DJs and tasty food, the day has
something for everyone.
For an even bigger day out, get a
ticket to the World Para Athletics
Championships London 2017, in the
London Stadium from 14-23 July.
A specially commissioned exhibition,
by artist, photographer and film-maker
David Hevey and supported by Shape
Arts, will feature high quality, vibrant and
empowering large scale photographic
portraits of disabled people welcoming
visitors to Liberty Festival and the World
Para Athletics Championships London
2017. Full information at the website
www.QueenElizabethOlympicPark.co.uk
PARLIAMENT AND THE FIRST
WORLD WAR IN WESTMINSTER
‘Parliament and the First World War’,
a new, free exhibition opens this week in
Parliament’s historic Westminster Hall.
Running until 28 September, the
exhibition, which includes a multi-touch
table, enables visitors to explore
documents, paintings and objects which
demonstrate the profound changes in
Parliament and democracy that occurred
during the war years.
A poignant addition to the exhibition
will be a light projection of the names of
those recorded on the First World War
memorials in Parliament. These names
House of Commons 1914, oil on canvas by
Leopold Braun © Palace of Westminster Collection.
include the 46 Parliamentarians and
26 Parliamentary staff killed in service.
The exhibition highlights personal
sacrifice through the stories of people
connected with Parliament, including
William Leveson-Gower (1883-1918), a
clerk who began working in Parliament in
1908. He witnessed the Foreign
Secretary’s 1914 speech in the House of
Commons Chamber on Britain’s intention
to join the war, giving him a unique
insight into the political developments of
the day. Four years later, he joined the
Coldstream Guards and served in France,
where he was killed by an enemy shell in
October 1918 – just two months before
the war ended.
In Parliament, as elsewhere, women
stepped up during the war to occupy
many roles traditionally held by men, a
development which was the subject of
many serious debates at the time.
Visitors to the exhibition will learn how
that dynamic played out in Parliament
itself, through the story of the Girl
Porters – the first women to work in the
House of Commons who were not either
cleaning or kitchen staff.
The Palace of Westminster is home to
one of the world’s busiest parliaments,
with more than a million visitors,
including 100,000 school children,
passing through its doors
each year. Visitors from
the UK and overseas are
welcome to watch debates
and committee hearings or
take an audio or guided
tour throughout the year.
Visitors booked on tours
of the Palace of
Westminster will have
access to the exhibition.
Access is via the
Cromwell Green Entrance.
parliament.uk/visit
t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g a z i n e • t h i s i s l o n d o n o n l i n e