Men Marched Asleep (2018) // Installation & Engagement

Williamson Art Gallery and Museum

• Artist in Residence

The title of the installation takes its inspiration from the fifth line of the Wilfred Owen poem: Dulce et Decorum Est …a poem which provides a deeply evocative description of men exhausted by battle but continuing on. It’s a journey-narrative saturated by time-and-toil, regimental history and personal loss during the Great War.

This sense of movement is also conveyed via a series of historical objects/personal photographs and artworks created by the local community. At the centre of the work is a life-size re-creation of a WW1 trench which transports the visitor through an immersive and evocative environment peppered with lines of poetry taken from Owen’s work.

In conjunction with the installation, serving & former soldiers contributed to a workshop programme alongside members of The Spider Project, a creative arts and well-being recovery community programme.