Camouflage 2008 project

Camouflage’08 is a dynamic exhibition and events programme led by The Gordon Highlanders Museum in partnership with Aberdeen City Council’s arts development team and Creative Cultures Scotland.

Designed to explore the origins of camouflage, its militarisation and its impact on contemporary culture, themes such as concealment, distortion, deception and disguise will be explored and interpreted through a variety of fun events and activities.

The history of camouflage

The First Camoufleurs and Disruptive Pattern

IDW116 - artillery camo paint design 1917

French artists Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scévola and Eugène Corbin are generally considered the fathers of modern camouflage. In 1914, both were serving in the same artillery regiment and, unknown to each other, began to experiment with ways of concealing their positions.

They painted sections of canvas with irregular, coloured shapes and suspended them over the guns. The patterns broke up the shape of the guns making it harder to identify from the air. This technique became known as ‘disruptive pattern’. In February 1915, following successful demonstrations of these experiments, the French created the first specialist camouflage section in any army.

British Camouflage

IWM Q17686 - cut-outs of German soldiers 1917

The British Army was the first to follow the French example and establish a camouflage section. Known as the Special Works Park RE (Royal Engineers), it was set up in March 1916 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Wyatt. The section’s technical adviser was classical artist Solomon J Solomon. Solomon used subdued colours in an ‘imitation of nature’, and preferred netting to canvas. The British camouflage section also devised dummies and decoys for deceptive purposes.

The value of camouflage was quickly recognised, and all major combatant nations established their own camouflage units with their own designs and practices. The word ‘camouflage’ – from the French verb meaning to ‘make up for the stage’ – became common currency.

Miscellaneous

The launch of Camouflage at the Gordon HIghlanders on the 1st of April 2008

NATURE
The animal kingdom is filled with creatures whose colours and patterns help conceal and protect them. By the time camouflage became a widespread military priority, the great naturalists of the 19th and early 20th centuries had already laid the groundwork with their pioneering studies of visual deception in the natural world. Camouflage is partly about being a chameleon - adopting the colours of a particular setting in order to blend in and become inconspicuous. This is as true for a tank or warship as it is for a soldier or tiger.

MILITARY
Skilled hunters make skilled warriors, so it is no coincidence that the earliest military camouflage grew from hunting traditions. Even so, the greys and greens worn by 18th and 19th century sharpshooters remained largely the preserve of elite soldiers until colonial rebellion and the First World War made all too clear the need for uniforms that allowed modern soldiers to blend in, and not stand out.

URBAN
Camouflage is an emblem of military might and an abstract representation of the natural environment that was invented as a form of defence. Disruptive pattern became synonymous with combat clothing but has also acquired a far wider range of associations. Worn by anti-war protesters; appropriated by hip-hop groups; explored by artists and designers; appearing in street fashion and on the catwalk - camouflage has become a universal style icon.