Ireland

Ceramic poppies marking first World War losses go on show in Belfast

‘I have met people from ‘both sides’ who wore it [a poppy] because their grandparents fought – which I think is what we have to think about’

The poppy sculpture, Weeping Window, by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper will be on show from Saturday October 14th, at the Ulster Museum, Belfast. Photograph: Darren Kidd / Press Eye

Amanda Ferguson
Fri Oct 13 2017 - 13:49

A visually arresting sculpture featuring 6,000 ceramic poppies has been installed on the facade of the Ulster Museum in Belfast.

Poppies: Weeping Window, made up of ceramic, Canadian-style red poppy heads – representing individual lives lost at the front in the first World War – will be on display at the venue until December 3rd. A full arts programme linked to the installation will take place at the museum throughout October and November to explore the poppy as a potent and often controversial symbol in Ireland.

The artwork is one of two sculptures taken from the 2014 “Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red” installation by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper, which was originally on show at the Tower of London to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the first World War. Its 888,246 ceramic poppies representing all the lives lost at the front during the war were sold to the public, with around 10,000 purchased by Lady Susie Sainsbury’s Backstage Trust and the Clore Duffield Foundation as a “gift to the nation” in the form of two sculptures.

Weeping Window and another sculpture, Wave, are touring the UK until 2019 and will then go on permanent display at the Imperial War Museum in Manchester and London. Among the museum's linked events to the Belfast display is a "Why the First World War Failed to End" discussion on October 27th hosted by Irish Times journalist Ronan McGreevy.

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Festival director Richard Wakely said the sculpture is a reflection of the huge loss of life from conflict and warfare during the first World War, rather than a glorification of war. “I hope the sculpture continues the public discourse on identity and diversity across the island,” he said.

“We should acknowledge that it is a very potent, sometimes controversial symbol and rather than backing off from that I say, let’s talk about that and that’s why is we have an engagement programme.”

Artist Paul Cummins said Belfast has “come alive” in the two decades he has been visiting the city.

“Everyone here is on board with the fact that there will be negative [reaction to the sculpture] but there is also quite a lot of positive behind it which I think will outweigh it.

“I have met people from ‘both sides’ who wore it [a poppy] because their grandparents fought – which I think is what we have to think about.

“It is about honouring the life of a loved one, of their sacrifice.”

Designer Tom Piper says the depth of response from the public has been extraordinary. “The poppy has always been a contentious symbol, . . . but I think the powerful thing this artwork does is make people look at that again and see the poppy as an individual person as that what it represents, an individual life lost.

“There is political debate, and there should be about these symbols but it also allows people to re imagine the symbols and reclaim them in a different way.”

Poppies: Weeping Window is on display at the Ulster Museum until December 3rd. For a full programme of events visit https://www.nmni.com

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