Artist’s impression of a sand portrait for ‘Pages of the Sea’ (Image © 14-18 NOW)
The final list of beaches for Danny Boyle’s Armistice commission Pages of the Sea has been announced. On 11 November 2018, people are invited to gather on 31 beaches across the UK and in the Republic of Ireland to remember the men and women who left their communities to serve in the First World War.
The public is invited to beaches at low-tide on the day to take part in a series of community-led events. A large-scale portrait of a casualty from the First World War, designed by sand artists Sand in Your Eye will be drawn into the sand in many locations and washed away as the tide comes in. In addition, the public will be asked to join in by creating silhouettes of people on the beaches, remembering the millions of lives lost or changed forever by the conflict.
Poet Carol Ann Duffy has been invited by Boyle – the stage and film director responsible for the opening ceremony for London’s 2012 Olympic Games – to write a new poem which will read aloud as people gather. Copies of the poem will be available online and at the participating beaches around the UK for those who wish to come together or to offer their own personal contribution.
The work is the culmination of 14-18 NOW, the UK’s arts programme for First World War centenary commemoration, and is delivered in conjunction with arts foundations, theatres and other partner organisations across the UK and Ireland. It is supported by the National Lottery and the UK Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.