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New artwork reveals more about field hospital designed by Brunel
A pop-up field hospital designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for use in the Crimean War is the subject of a new artwork at the SS Great Britain.
The little-known prefab field hospital was designed by Brunel in just six days after he was commissioned by Sir Benjamin Hawes, permanent under-secretary at the War Office and husband of Brunel’s sister Sophia.
Hawes made his request to Brunel after pleas from Florence Nightingale about the inadequate sanitation and hygiene of field hospitals during the Crimean War.
Brunel’s pop-up Renkioi Hospital was constructed in England before being shipped to Crimea in 1855.
The artwork by community researcher Jacqueline Braithwaite is now on permanent display in the SS Great Britain’s Dockyard Museum.
Braithwaite’s piece features screenprints of photographs and other archival material, with her artwork displayed on a canvas stretched out between two poles, mimicking the stretchers used to transport wounded soldiers.
“When you visit a museum, we often look at things in text, in two dimensions,” Braithwaite said.
“I’m very aware of inclusive design, and I wanted to show that you can tell historical stories using different skills.
“I felt I could tell the story in print using the skill base of being a textile designer to access more people.”
Among the portraits are Mary Seacole, a nurse and businesswoman; and Frances Duberly, the first recorded female war correspondent who travelled to the front line with her husband, a British Army officer, on board the SS Great Britain.
Jacqueline Braithwaite’s artwork is the latest in a series of creative responses produced by researchers as part of the Community Research programme at the SS Great Britain Trust – photo: SS Great Britain Trust
Main photo: SS Great Britain Trust
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