Red wave to remember war’s fallen
THE SCULPTURE TO MARK 100 YEARS SINCE THE OUTBREAK OF FIRST WORLD WAR IS COMING TO MANCHESTER
The work will go on display at the Imperial War Museum North next year as part of a nationwide tour
A STRIKING sculpture of poppies launched at the Tower of London to mark 100 years since the outbreak of the First World War is coming to Greater Manchester.
The sweeping arch of thousands of bright red ceramic poppy heads suspended on towering stalks made headlines across the world when it was unveiled as part of a huge and emotive memorial in 2014.
It has now been confirmed the work will go on display at Imperial War Museum North next year as part of a nationwide tour and the Salford Quays museum’s plans to mark the centenary of the end of the conflict.
The Wave sculpture, by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper, initially went on show at the Tower of London alongside the Weeping Window sculpture – a symbolic sea of red poppies.
Both designs formed part of the iconic Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red installation, observed by the Queen and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, head of Armistice Day 2014. In total the exhibition involved the planting of 888,246 ceramic poppies, one for every British and Commonwealth soldier killed at the Western Front during the First World War. The news was confirmed by IWM North ahead of this year’s annual remembrance events next month. The museum said it would stage innovative exhibitions, installations and events exploring themes of remembrance and how the First World War has shaped today’s society across 2018. The ‘Wave’ sculpture will be displayed at the museum from September 8 to November 25, 2018. Weeping Window meanwhile – the larger of the two pieces – will be at IWM London between October 6 and November 18. From July next year, IWM North’s major new exhibition titled Lest We Forget will explore how symbols of commemoration have endured for a century. Both poppy sculptures – Wave and Weeping Window – will become part of IWM’s permanent collections at the end of the UK tour.