Your article on the Imperial War Museum’s forthcoming exhibition Childhood in War is a timely reminder that the deepest wounds of conflict are often carried by those who never chose it (‘There was absolutely no chance of being a kid’: new exhibition explores how war shapes children’s lives, 19 July). While wars are recorded through battles, borders and political decisions, children experience them very differently: through interrupted childhoods, fractured families and the loss of what should have been ordinary days.

Over many years working in war zones, I came to understand that children are not simply among the victims of war; they are its longest-lasting casualties. Long after the fighting has moved on, they continue to live with its consequences – in their bodies, their memories and the futures they must somehow rebuild.

My series Child of War grew out of those encounters. It was never intended to document conflict itself, but rather its enduring imprint on young lives: children whose resilience was remarkable, but whose suffering should never be mistaken for acceptance or inevitability.

Art cannot change the past, but it can bear witness. If this exhibition encourages us to look beyond the headlines and recognise the human cost of conflict through the eyes of a child, it will have performed a profound service.
Arabella Dorman
London