December 2017

Presented by 14-18 NOW, National Museums NI and Belfast International Arts Festival bring Poppies: Weeping Window to Belfast, for people from Northern Ireland and across the island of Ireland to experience this unique, powerful and deeply moving sculpture.

The sculpture by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper is one of two touring as part of 14-18 NOW, the UK’s arts programme for the First World War centenary. As with all 14-18 NOW projects, the presentation of this sculpture to new audiences across the UK aims to prompt a new, nationwide dialogue around the legacy of the war. Weeping Window is a cascade comprising several thousand handmade ceramic poppies seen pouring from a high window to the ground below. Together with a second sculptural work, Wave, they formed part of the iconic installation ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’ at the Tower of London in 2014, and were visited by over five-million people.

Please click here for full poppies programme or go to the website be clicking here.

An introduction to Heritage Lottery Fund funding streams and application processes; showcasing of existing community First World War research projects; a presentation by the Everyday Lives in War engagement centre on how they can support independent researchers and community groups researching the First World War; and an insight into the Essex Records Officeactivities and resources. A FREE event, but pre-registration required.

Please click here for more information.

Free family event

Join us at the Northern Ireland War Memorial for festive fun with wartime games and activities for all ages:

• Learn how people celebrated Christmas under the restraints of rationing.
• Try your hand in our lucky dip.
• Have a go at cracking a secret Christmas message.
• Sample our ration recipe Christmas cake made with dried eggs.
• Listen to well-loved Christmas songs from the 1940s.
• Watch the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge as he’s whisked away by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.

Please click here for more information.