Flowers of War 2: An International collaborative commemorative 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’ was one of the selected centenary projects. It explored the process of creating a commemorative object through community engagement. The breadth of interdisciplinary practices included participatory design processes, communication design and contemporary enamelling methodologies. CONTRIBUTION: In April 2018 enamellists Kirsten Haydon, Elizabeth Turrell and communication designer Neal Haslem exhibited the Flowers of War (FoW) project in Bristol, UK at the Royal West of England Academy (RWA). This second presentation of FoW included 32 new botanical forms and 150 new steel and enamel brooches created in response to the FoW outcomes from Canterbury Museum, NZ in 2017. The artists supported and inspired one another through co-located making and collective remembrance to develop a fully international collaborative commemorative work. This work greatly expanded the exploration of the use of botanical forms in commemoration and remembrance. The exhibition demonstrated creative practitioners coming together geographically to enable intensive international collaboration leading to the creation of multi-layered inter-connected outcomes. The individual outcomes were collectively mounted on the steel frame to materially articulate diverse narratives, personal histories and commemorative practices of WWI. 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. This project was selected to be exhibited at The RWA from 29 Mar - 29 Apr 2018. The RWA is Bristol's first art gallery established in 1844 and provides South-West UK with an extensive world-class program of exhibitions, events, workshops, talks and lectures.