Stoke-on-Trent will present Weeping Windowby artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper as part of 14-18 NOW’s UK-wide tour of the iconic poppies.
The sculpture will be at Middleport Pottery from August 2 to September 16, 2018.
The presentations by 14-18 NOW, the UK’s arts programme for the First World War centenary, have given people the chance to experience the impact of the ceramic poppy sculptures in a number of places across the nation, and been seen by nearly 4 million people to date.
Weeping Windowis from the installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red– poppies and original concept by artist Paul Cummins and installation designed by Tom Piper – by Paul Cummins Ceramics Limited in conjunction with Historic Royal Palaces. The installation was originally at HM Tower of London from August to November 2014 where 888,246 poppies were displayed, one to honour every British or Colonial life lost at the Front during the First World War.
Free to see, Poppies:Weeping Windowwill comprise several thousand handmade ceramic poppies tumbling out of the bottle kiln at Middleport. For further details, visit https://www.1418now.org.uk/commissions/poppies-weeping-window-middleport-pottery-stoke/.
Middleport Pottery’s historic Grade II* listed site was built in 1888 for a well-known local ceramics company, Burgess & Leigh Limited. It has maintained unbroken pottery production since its Victorian inception. In June 2011, The United Kingdom Historic Building Preservation Trust (UKHBPT) stepped in to restore Middleport Pottery after the buildings had fallen into disrepair, and embarked on a £9 million, three-year project to regenerate and revitalise the site. In June 2014, HRH The Prince of Wales opened the refurbished Middleport Pottery, now containing the Burleigh factory, Visitor Centre, Tea Rooms, shop, activity areas and workshops and offices for creative businesses. Today, Middleport Pottery is a thriving, exciting visitor destination, and continues as the last working Victorian pottery in the United Kingdom.
It is the penultimate stop for Weeping Windowbefore the sculpture opens at IWM London.
The tour has been made possible by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the Backstage Trust, the Clore Duffield Foundation and the National Lottery. DAF Trucks are the transport sponsor for the UK presentations, and 14-18 NOW is delighted to partner with DAF on making this historic project a reality.The learning and engagement programme for the poppies tour is supported by the Foyle Foundation. Storage of the sculptures is generously provided by MTEC.
Tourist information about Stoke-on-Trent & The Potteries can be found at http://www.visitstoke.co.uk.
Image credit © Richard Lea-Hair and Historic Royal Palaces