First World War soldiers appeared in public places across the UK yesterday (1 July), marking the centenary of the bloody Battle of the Somme that claimed the lives of more than 19,000 British troops on the first day of the Anglo-French offensive across the fields of northern France a hundred years ago. The men, who congregated in shopping centres, high streets and at railway stations, were volunteers in a “human memorial” devised by the artist Jeremy Deller, who is known for his re-enactment of the Battle of Orgreave in 2001.
The UK-wide event, entitled We’re here because we’re here, was commissioned by 14-18 Now, the official cultural programme for the centenary commemoration. Deller devised the piece in collaboration with 27 organisations including the National Theatre in London, the National Theatre of Scotland and Manchester Royal Exchange.
The men, drawn from more than 1,400 volunteers, remained silent when approached, handing out cards with the names and ages of the battle casualties. At points, the participants sang the song We’re here because we’re here to the tune of Auld Lang Syne, a popular song in the trenches during the First World War.
Deller says in a statement: “I wanted to make a contemporary memorial to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, one that moved around the UK with an unpredictability in which the participants took the work directly to the public.”
Claire Doherty, the founding director of the public art organisation Situations, said on twitter that the work is “a reminder of the potential for public art to cut through the everyday and startle us awake”. Jennifer Higgie, the co-editor of Frieze magazine, also called the work “amazing” on social media.
The project was backed by Arts Council England, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Art Fund, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Creative Scotland, the funding and development agency for the arts.
