Weeping Window poppy sculpture reaches final stop at war museum
A GIANT poppy display commemorating the First World War, which has been seen by millions, has arrived at the final stop of its four-year nationwide tour. The Weeping Window
sculpture depicts poppies streaming out of an upper window of London’s Imperial War Museum.
The sculpture is part of the artistic project that began in 2014 with the display of 888,246 poppies outside the Tower of London to represent each person from Britain and its colonies who died in the First World War, and various iterations of the design have been on show in locations including Plymouth, Orkney, Southend and Belfast.
More than 4 million people have seen the poppy displays, according to 14-18 NOW, the art commissioning organisation behind the project.
Speaking outside the museum, the sculpture’s designer Tom Piper said: “For me it is very fitting it ends up here at the Imperial War Museum, which is here to examine war and the cost of war.
“In no way do I see it as a glorification of war; it is a tribute to the spirit of those men.”
Around 2,000 handmade poppies have been attached to a scaffolding structure that stretches up the wall of the museum and into the ground below.
A sea of red appears to be pouring down the museum’s outer wall, mimicking the flowing of blood.
Paul Cummins, an artist who worked on the project, said: “You need to celebrate the personal sacrifice that people made.”
14-18 NOW is funded by organisations including the National Lottery and Arts Council England, as well as private companies.
The display can be viewed from Friday until November 18.