Ann Johnson,
Quaker Concern for Animals UK
July 2018
2018 marks 100 years since the end of WW1. To remember the human victims of war, the Collateral Damage Project (CDP) is staging a significant exhibition during November and December of this year at Friends House in London. It will display the CDP white peace poppies installation, begun last year for the Art at the Arms Fair, and which continues to grow.
Quaker Concern for Animals is among those invited to take part in this artwork by making and contributing purple poppies in memory of all nonhuman animals who, alongside humans, die as a result of warfare.
Traditionally, red poppies are the symbol for Remembrance Day. Purple
poppies are to specifically honor animals.
It is hoped that "purple poppies" will form a distinctive group within the
installation. This is a great opportunity for people (not just Quakers) to
create awareness of the continued suffering of millions of domestic, zoo,
farm and wild animals, as well as those used by the military on battlefields
and in weapons experiments.
The purple poppy should be roughly the size of the traditional remembrance
day poppy and can include white if you wish. Be imaginative with decoration
- knot, crochet, felt, stitch, maybe using recycled materials, buttons and
fringing for stamens, etc. You can attach to your poppy a message (string
and tag) in memory of animal victims. You could cut your tag into a simple
animal, bird or insect shape of your choice (war has no respect for
species). Work as individuals or in a group. Making poppies can be an
all-age craft activity.
Your completed purple poppies for the installation should be sent to:
Collateral Damage White Poppies, c/o Quaker Peace and Social Witness,
Friends House 173-177 Euston Rd, London NW1 2BJ. Deadline is 8 October, 2018.
More about the CDP and the poppies installation can be found on the
Peace
Pledge Union (PPU) website, where there is also a useful leaflet to
download on how to make the poppies.
Figures for animal deaths through war are largely unrecorded and vary but here are
just a few from military and other records: