ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the public artwork Pages of the Sea, commissioned for the Armistice centenary by the UK arts organisation 14–18 NOW. It argues that, despite earlier anxieties about ‘triumphalism’ and militaristic overtones in the pre-centenary period, the most impactful public commemorative events were not the state-led official ceremonies, or the contributions of leading historians, but those that re-framed commemorative practice by producing artistic works like Pages of the Sea to create new forms of performative public remembrance. The chapter draws on the author’s own experiences of the event before, during and after it, and of the people who produced, reported on and visited the work on the day of its creation.
