(DAY 3)

Climbing the belfry was an add-on to our ticket to see the In Flanders Fields Museum, which is also housed in Ypres’ Cloth Hall. We smartly visited the museum before setting out on a guided tour to help us contextualize what we were going to see around Ypres the next day.

The museum used video, animation, and computer technology to bring the material culture of war to life in a setting which had the solemn feel of a cathedral. We received RFID-chipped poppy bracelets which, by clicking them various computer stations throughout the exhibits, would provide personal stories of individuals involved in the war or more detailed information about the objects you selected. Video stations showed actors representing all different nationalities talking about their experiences in English, French, Dutch, or German. A digital map animated the changes of the front lines from 1914-1918, colour-coded to show whose army was where. But the high-tech displays were intermixed with objects and photographs that couldn’t help but make you wonder about the people who once owned or used them.

Several pennants hung over the exit, printed with the names of all the wars of the twentieth century. It is very hard to understand how humanity keeps making the same mistakes over and over.