Whangarei Art Museum in New Zealand has announced that it has been awarded $12,000 by the Lottery World War One Commemorations Environment & Heritage Board towards the creation of “five living floral commemorative carpets” to mark the Centenary of the First World War.
The “public art event” will take place on the 17th – 23rd February 2014.
Described as a “distinctive and unique project”, five Northland artists will be invited to create “individual thematic designs to be transformed into Living Floral Carpets approx. 2m
square (or diameter) in size around the concept of War and Service in WW1″.
The Living Remembrance Floral Carpet project aims to “provide opportunities for community commemoration, education on the significance of World War One to contemporary New Zealand society and insights into how WW1 impacted on the fledgling nation and still reverberates today”.
The Living Remembrance Floral Carpet project is the first of Centenary commemoration projects planned by Whangarei Art Museum for the period 2014-2018.
“Visitors will be able to watch each of the artworks in progress and their ceremonial dedication… following at the conclusion of the project week a ceremonial dismantling of the flowers and blessing as they are gently floated out to sea down the Hatea River at the Town Basin”.
Source: Whangarei Art Museum press release
Images courtesy of the Whangarei Art Museum
Posted by: Daniel Barry, Centenary News