Flowers of War 1, A collaborative work

BACKGROUND: The ‘World War One centenary’ initiatives developed with the ‘Anzac Centenary Arts and Culture Fund’ (AU), ‘14-18 NOW’ (UK) and (WW100) Co-Commissioning Fund in New Zealand was a scheme to support new, large-scale, collaborative works. ‘Flowers of War’ one of the selected centenary projects. It explored the process of creating a commemorative object informed by community engagement. The breadth of interdisciplinary practices included participatory design processes, communication design and contemporary enamelling methodologies. CONTRIBUTION: In 2017 enamellists Kirsten Haydon, Elizabeth Turrell and communication designer Neal Haslem presented the first iteration of ‘Flowers of War’ (FoW): a circular structure designed and constructed from laser-cut, hand-fabricated, heat blackened sheet steel with wooden trestle legs. The sparse form held a number of individually enamelled wearable botanical forms responding to objects in the Canterbury museum collection. Public participation alongside the structure generated six large collaborative paper wreaths. The public was invited to intervene in the creative making process by contributing stories and directing the project towards new ideas and narratives. This process of presenting the start of a creative work to the community provided a space for generative making processes that responded to the audience. SIGNIFICANCE: ‘FoW’ was selected as a (WW100) Co-Commissioning Fund project by a panel of experts on the New Zealand arts board at Creative New Zealand in 2014. Other selectrks included ‘Morning Star’ by Lyndell Brown, Charles Green & ATW and ‘The Head and the Load’ by William Kentridge. The Canterbury Museum, in association with The National, Contemporary Jewellery Gallery in Christchurch presented FoW in a space of the gallery overlooking the Christchurch Botanical Gardens. Approximately 65,000 visitors entered the museum over 10 weeks and 300 visitors engaged with the artists over 6 days.