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To commission a sculpture commemorating the 1940 German blitz of Coventry which destroyed its medieval centre and led to its becoming identified as the city of reconciliation and peace. The artwork will be a companion piece to Dresden 1945 by Matthew Picton which commorates its destruction in 1945.
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Situation
On 14 November 1940, Coventry's medieval heart, including its Cathedral was destroyed in a German air raid. In 1945, the city of Dresden was destroyed in an allied bombing attack In 1959 Dresden and Coventry made formal links of peace and reconciliation. In 2011, the Herbert purchased Picton's, "Dresden 1945" for its visual arts collection and now wishes to commission a companion piece, "Coventry", to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the consecration of the new Cathedral.
Solution
Picton creates sculptural representations of cities which have undergone conflict . Combining cartography with historical documentation, Picton's careful choice of material questions the relationships between people and buildings, history and events. In "Coventry" a key material will be Britten's War Requiem. The "Coventry" commission will focus debate on how a city's wartime experience continues to define it; how Coventry is still defined by its destruction as much as its reconstruction.