Glasgow Central Station, Image Courtesy of 14-18 Now
Jeremy Deller’s stunned British city dwellers with his “contemporary memorial” composed of 1,500 men roaming UK towns dressed as world war one soldiers. Entitled “We’re here because we’re here”, and created in collaboration with Rufus Norris, Director of the National Youth Theatre, the intervention took place on 1 July in remembrance of the Battle of the Somme. The battle, which began on 1 July 1916 was one of the bloodiest of WW1, killing 1,500 men on the first day alone. The project might have paid tribute to bygone age, though in the current climate of deep political and social division in the UK this couldn’t have been a more fitting history lesson.
The 2004 Turner Prize-winner Jeremy Deller intended for the memorial to be unpredictable and inclusive, and the participants to take the work directly to the public. Commissioned by 14-18 Now, the performance involved the “soldiers” seating, standing, walking, and sometimes singing the tune that those in the actual battle sang when in the trenches at Somme. Though when approached, their only reaction was to show a white card displaying the name, rank, battalion, and regiment of a real soldier, who’d died at the Somme on that same day. Deller’s moving and eerie project had an incredible impact throughout the day with people, including comedian Dawn French, spreading #wearehere on social media.
Newcastle, Image Courtesy of 14-18 Now