Silhouetted army go on parade at Hampton Court Palace

By Ellie Brown - Local Democracy Reporter 4th Nov 2021

A spectacular silhouetted 'Army' of soldiers built as a tribute to the fallen to mark Remembrance Day was opened to the public at Hampton Court Palace today (Wednesday 3 November).

The field of 125 dark figures can be seen on the East Front Gardens and will be accompanied by 75 screen-printed poppy wreaths for the poignant installation which runs until November 28th.

A special guide for the installation, created in partnership with Standing With Giants, will be available from the ticket office.

The figures were made out of recycled building materials by Oxfordshire artist Dan Barton and included 25 Indian soldier silhouettes as they famously camped at Hampton Court after the first world war ended.

Visitors can walk freely amongst the installation which is designed as a "safe space where people can come and reflect, to grieve, to discuss with children, to connect, to reset, and to look forward" says Dan.

"The outpouring of emotion we've witnessed, from grief, to stunned silence, to amazement, has been incredibly overwhelming."

Dan and his partner Janette, who are from Bristol, feels we should do more to honour their memory of our fallen soldiers.

His longer term aim is to create a 'National Mobile Tribute to the Fallen.'

To date, their two previous installations have had an impressive 36,000 visitors over a combined 30 day period, and have raised £66,000 for their chosen charity The Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal.

To continue giving 100% of all donations to the Poppy Appeal, the project now needs funding help itself and is actively looking for sponsors and benefactors who can help fund and support them as they now need mobile 'box trailers' along with a small key group of staff to run the organisation.

After their 'deployment' at Hampton Court Palace, the soldier silhouettes will be joining an existing installation in the Falkland Islands to mark the 40th anniversary of the conflict next year.

Read more about the installation HERE.

To get tickets go to www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/whats-on/standing-with-giants-at-hampton-court-palace

For more details about Standing with Giants email: [email protected] or visit their Instagram page.

     

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