100 Medals for the Future
12 December 2018 – 31 March 2019
National Memorial Arboretum
Clare Twomey's project at the National Memorial Arboretum inspired by centenary remembrance events in 2018, will feature a hundred large porcelain medals designed by the artist to honour future achievements. Twomey, known for her large-scale ceramic installations, has developed the piece in collaboration with the National Memorial Arboretum, the UK’s centre of remembrance, which will be welcoming 6000 visitors on Remembrance Sunday. At the event, visitors will be asked to look to the future and think about the qualities and achievements that they hope can be commended in a hundred years time. These qualities will be fired onto the porcelain medals in soft grey text.
The shape of the fragile medals was inspired by the Dead Man’s Penny that the Arboretum holds in its collection. A Dead Man’s Penny, or Next of Kin Memorial Plaque, was bestowed to the next of kin of all commonwealth soldiers who died as a result of their injuries in World War I. Twomey’s contemporary porcelain medals, cast just as their bronze counterparts were, look towards how we will commemorate such sacrifice in the future.
Over the last fours years, national events have taken place across the county to mark the centenary of World War I. As we near the end of these commemorations, Twomey’s installation asks what remembrance means to people today and what we will chose to remember. The installation of delicate medals sits in stark contrast to the monumental bronze and marble memorials that are in the grounds of the Arboretum which inspired the artist. Twomey explains:
"To make an art work that responds to the National Memorial Arboretum is to make a response to the people it sets out to remember. This is a very personal journey for all of those who visit the Arboretum. It is the people who visit that animate these vast memorials with stories and shared memories. It is important to acknowledge that remembrance is a very human thing, and I wanted to incorporate this into the new work by inviting the public to contribute to the forming of the art work .”
Medals for the Future at the National Memorial Arboretum remembers those who have sacrificed in the past and is inspired by visitors’ hopes for the future. Twomey’s porcelain installation marks the end of centenary commemorations and captures a moment when people gathered to remember past sacrifice and future achievements.
