The Global Role permanent gallery looks at the accumulation and defence of Britain's overseas possessions, before examining the withdrawal from empire that began in the wake of the Second World War.

The focus turns to the international crises of the modern era, from the Korean War to the recent deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of the objects in this gallery were collected by soldiers deployed overseas and reflect the interactions they had with a wide range of peoples and cultures.

These soldiers came from all corners of the world and the displays reflect the huge diversity in Britain's armies. The gallery holds over 800 objects from large painting to small medals and delicate printed ephemera. We wanted the graphics to be placed so they were sensitive to the displays. A clean approach with a lower datum line of labels-this approach allowed the collection to shine without the risk of the text distracting from the object in focus.