Yorkshire sand artists plan huge Peace Day project on D-Day beach for 21 September 2013
Two Yorkshire sand artists are to create a vast sand art project on one of the beaches which featured in the D-Day in France this weekend (21 September). They will lead a team of volunteers to make 9,000 sand drawings to mark Peace Day, representing the souls who lost their lives there during World War II.
Jamie Wardley and Andy Moss, from Bradford, have come up with the idea of The Fallen to mark Peace Day. They will create stencilled drawings in the sand of the 9,000 civilians, German forces and Allies who died at Arromanches on 6 June 1944. The silhouettes of those individuals will be drawn on the beach at the rate at which they fell only to be totally erased by the incoming tide, as their own lives were.
“The Fallen is a sobering reminder of what happens when peace is not present. The idea is to create a visual representation of what is otherwise unimaginable - the thousands of human lives lost during the hours of the tide during the WWII Normandy landings on 6 June 1944. There will be no distinction between nationalities, they will be known only as ‘The Fallen’. It does not propose to be a celebration or condemnation, simply a statement of fact and tribute to life and its premature loss,” says Jamie.
“This project will bring together people from all nationalities, backgrounds and ages. Each individual will work in a team to make a person using a stencil and by raking the sand. The use of stencils means that anybody can participate whether they are veterans or families with children. Together, we will make a piece of art in harmony as a reflection of a peaceful world in which we would like to live,” adds Andy.
The Fallen will be created over five hours by a minimum of 100 people. Many volunteers have already signed up, although more are welcome to join the project, which will raise awareness of Peace Day and Peace One Day. The project is being funded by Sand In Your Eye, with support from local building merchants, Uriah Woodhead, who have supplied all the materials.
Volunteers wishing to join them at Arromanches on 21 September to be part of this incredible project should visit www.thefallen9000.info for more details. With their company Sand In Your Eye, they have worked with the likes of Aardman animation but community art projects such as The Fallen are close to their hearts.
For more information and to take part in The Fallen please visit www.thefallen9000.info
ENDS
Photo caption
On 14 January 2013 a test was made on Filey beach to gain perspective on what The Fallen may look like and also to calculate how big a team would be needed.
Notes to Editors
Photographs taken throughout the day will be available to download at:
http://news.cision.com/pyper-york/multimedia/
Photographers from the media are also welcome to attend on the day. Contact Jamie Wardley on +44 (0)791 7800 361 if you would like to join the team travelling to Arromanches. A full media call is available to download (see the link at the bottom of this news release)
About Jamie Wardley and Sand in Your Eye
Jamie Wardley established Sand in Your Eye (SIYE) in 2003 with the core principle that the creation of art and its development is the foremost drive. The original mandate was to produce sand sculptures. Since then SIYE has developed with the addition of Andy Moss in 2009. They now create ice sculptures, sand drawings that they can animate, and even images made out of light. Last year they worked with Aardman animation, who produce Wallace and Gromit, to create the largest animated film in the world, they also work with many local authorities, charities and festivals as well as their own projects that have a social emphasis.
About Peace One Day and International Peace Day
Founded in 1999 by filmmaker Jeremy Gilley, the non-profit organization Peace One Day drove the initiative that led to the unanimous adoption by the United Nations member states of an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence on 21 September – Peace Day.
With the day in place, Peace One Day’s objective is to institutionalize Peace Day around the world, making it self- sustaining. A report supported by McKinsey & Company estimated that 280 million people were aware of Peace Day 2012, with approximately 5.6 million people behaving more peacefully as a result. The number of people aware of Peace Day in 2013 is expected to double.
Peace Day has also been proved as a window of opportunity for humanitarian organizations to focus their ongoing life-saving activities within a global context, most notably in Afghanistan, where 4.5 million children have been immunized against polio due to Peace Day agreements since 2007.
Peace One Day has launched a series of Peace Day coalitions and runs a number of campaigns to further awareness and engagement on Peace Day. For more information visit www.peaceoneday.org.
About Uriah Woodhead Building Merchants
Uriah Woodhead are a building merchants based in Bradford and have supported Sand In Your Eye on past projects including the making of a 120 tonne sculpture of Charles Darwin in 2009. For the Fallen they will supply all the materials required to make the 150 stencils and rakes that are key to making the 9000 and some of the staff will assist in preparation and the event itself. Ann Marie Jagger, the MD from Uriah Woodhead said:
“It is a marvelous idea and a privilege to be part of international Peace day as its message is so important and paramount to our future. We have supported Sand In Your Eye in the past and it is fantastic to be part of such a wonderful community event that will touch the hearts of so many people local and afar.”
For more media information please contact:
Jamie Wardley
+44 (0)791 7800 361
Andy Moss
+44 (0)789 1280 667
+44 (0)1274 595299
