Brand new works by Michael Rakowitz, Heather Phillipson, Compagnie XY and Cathy Wilkes will soon span the length and breadth of the UK as part of the IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund, a national programme of 22 artist commissions inspired by the heritage of conflict and created in partnership with Imperial War Museums (IWM) and 14-18 NOW, the official UK arts programme for the First World War centenary.

Five major partners have been appointed by IWM as co-commissioners, each to receive £250,000: The Hunterian in Glasgow; Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea; BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead; Ulster University in Derry-Londonderry; and Leicester Museums. Working with five world-leading artists, these joint commissions will be displayed between 2023 and 2024 and explore themes ranging from care work in conflict to the current refugee crisis.

The Hunterian will commission a new body of work from Glasgow-based artist Cathy Wilkes. The project will allow Wilkes an extended period of reflection on questions of war, conflict and violence.

Building on over 100 years of contemporary art commissioning by IWM, this new initiative continues the vision and reach of 14-18 NOW, the official UK arts programme for the First World War centenary, and is made possible thanks to the success of Peter Jackson’s critically acclaimed film They Shall Not Grow Old, co-commissioned by IWM and 14-18 NOW. A share of the film’s royalties – £2.5 million – will see investment in artists and arts experiences as IWM partners with 20 cultural organisations and 22 artists from across the UK. The fully funded commissions will each be inspired by the heritage of conflict.

The IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund commissions will go on public display across the UK between 2022 and 2024.

Dominic Paterson, Curator of Contemporary Art, The Hunterian said of the project, “The Hunterian is enormously grateful for the opportunity afforded by this Major Commission. We wish to use it to consider how experiences of conflict and violence might be conveyed in art beyond monumental or heroic representations that valorise war.

We are honoured that Cathy Wilkes has agreed to be the commissioned artist for this project. Her work encompasses both abstraction and intense social realism to convey themes of universal relevance: attachment, care, loss, separation, exposure, and revelation. In her installations, Wilkes achieves a radical form of empathy, finding analogues for experiences that are often beyond verbal expression. She is uniquely placed to think anew about what it means for human beings to be exposed to violence, and to challenge the ways in which that experience is shared in art.”

For further information about the IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund, please visit the IWM website.

For further press information about The Hunterian please contact:

Ellen Fenton, Head of Audience Experience and Engagement, ellen.fenton@glasgow.ac.uk, 07929 657826

For further press information and interview requests about the IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund please contact:

Hannah Carr, Communications Manager (Exhibitions and Programming) at Imperial War Museums, HCarr@iwm.org.uk, 07581 622 157 

 

Notes to editors

IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund

The IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund is a national programme of 22 artist commissions inspired by the heritage of conflict and created in partnership with Imperial War Museums (IWM) and 14-18 NOW, the official UK arts programme for the First World War centenary.

To mark the end of the First World War centenary, Imperial War Museums and 14-18 NOW worked together to co-commission the critically acclaimed film They Shall Not Grow Old by Academy Award winner Peter Jackson, which was seen by nearly 5 million people globally. Following the unprecedented success of the film, 14-18 NOW and IWM agreed that a share of the film’s royalties would be used to support a new programme of artist commissions, the IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund. A total of £2.5 million is being made available to artists and cultural organisations across the UK. 

Through the IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund, IWM is now working in partnership with 20 cultural organisations from across the UK to commission 22 ambitious new artworks inspired by the heritage of conflict and created by world-leading and emerging contemporary artists. These new commissions will forge new opportunities for artistic engagement, bring art to audiences in new and relevant ways by connecting people, places and experiences, and kick-start cultural dialogue as we recover from the wide-reaching impacts of COVID-19. The commissions will go on public display across the UK between 2022 and 2024.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/partnerships/subject-specialist-network/14-18-now-legacy-fund

First published: 17 May 2022

<< News