The Anchorage Museum presents Kiska and Adak : War in the Aleutians. On view through Feb. 20, 2011.
Early in World War II, Kiska was a hotly contested battlefield that figured prominently in Japanese and U.S. news. Nearby, Adak supported a large military installation. In the new exhibition Kiska and Adak: War in the Aleutians, historic artifacts and then-and-now photographs illustrate the United States’ struggle to evict war-time intruders from Alaska.
Today, these islands are home to the physical remains of that era. On Kiska, U.S. bomb craters dot the tundra and Japanese gun barrels point skyward, reminders of the air war’s ferocity. Digital art by Dirk H.R. Spennemann presents the Kiska battlefield filtered through an artist’s gaze. These photographs were taken during historic preservation fieldwork with the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Spennemann used digital darkroom techniques to create grittier images more evocative of the war.
Also on display are objects and photographs from the National Park Service and the museum’s World War II and Cold War collections.
The Anchorage Museum is the largest museum in Alaska, and one of the top 10 most visited attractions in the state. The museum’s mission is to share and connect Alaska with the world through art, history and science.
www.anchoragemuseum.org