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 the World War II era. On
Kiska, U.S. bomb craters dot the tundra and Japanese gun barrels
point skyward, reminders of the air wars ferocity. Digital art
by Dirk H.R. Spennemann presents the Kiska battlefield filtered
through an artists 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 museums World War II and Cold War
collections. Obj