Imperial War Museum North reveals return of Poppies for permanent exhibition

The brand-new artwork, Poppies, is now open at Imperial War Museum North. The sculptures were originally part of the installation Blood Swept Land and Seas of Red, and became part of a national cultural programme to mark the First World War Centenary.

Conceived by ceramic artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper, the poppies were hand-crafted from clay by a team of over 300 people. They have now been combined and returned to Manchester as part of Imperial War Museums’ permanent collection.

Re-imagined into a dramatic new sculptural form, Poppies is now displayed within the unique architecture of IWM North’s Air Shard, featuring 12,960 handmade ceramic flowers cascading down the structure.

The original installation had been housed at HM Tower of London in 2014, where over four months volunteers installed 888,246 poppies, with each sculpted flower representing a life lost from Britain and its Empire in the First World War.

Laura Clouting, Senior Curator of First World War and Early 20th Century at IWM, says: “It feels really fitting to have the poppies return and make their home at IWM North. IWM was founded over a century ago amidst the First World War to ensure that we never forgot the human cost of war. The sculpture, both an artwork and a piece of social history, will provide visitors with the opportunity to consider these consequences of war afresh.”

Admission to the exhibition is free and you can book your visit using the button below.

IWM North is a free, world-leading museum on conflict and its impact. Its unique purpose-built exhibition space gives powerful voice to extraordinary stories of ordinary people, forced to live their lives in a world torn apart by conflict.