SPS Participates in Inauguration of French Memorial to Wilfred Owen
A Homage to Wilfred Owen
This year a small group consisting of members and their partners from Suffolk Poetry Society and poetryWivenhoe were invited to attend the inauguration of La Maison Forestiere which has been developed as a memorial to Wilfred Owen and a celebration of poetry.
The story begins with the Mayor of Ors, a tiny village near Le Cateau-Cambresis in France Nord, who noticed that numerous English people were visiting a particular grave in a small patch of commonwealth graves in the cemetery in his village. He discovered it was the grave of Wilfred Owen who was killed four days before Armistice, trying to cross the Sambre-Oise Canal, which runs through Ors, to reach the German army as ordered. Subsequently he learnt that Wilfred Owen had been holed up in the cellar of a Forestry house on the edge of his village with thirty of his men. It was from here that Wilfred Owen wrote his last letter to his mother.
Adapted from Arts and Architecture Journal:
“The local councillors and some of the village residents wanted to put an artistic and literary project in place that would commemorate Owen. To bring this about, together with the Association Wilfred Owen France, they turned to Artconnexions, an organisation devoted to the production of contemporary arts and mediator for the New Patrons initiative of the Fondation de France. British artist Simon Patterson was invited to respond to the commission. With the support of the mayor and the village of Ors, he proposed to focus on La Maison Forestiere, and give the disused building new life both as a homage to Wilfred Owen and as a venue for poetry. The house is simultaneously a sculpture, a visual work and a sound piece, filled with animated projections of texts by Wilfred Owen on the walls. A circular ramp leads down to the cellar where Owen wrote his last letter home to his mother. It is the only original part of the building and the artist has preserved it exactly as it was.”
You go down into it to experience its dark smallness.
You are then led up and out between curved white walls onto which are inscribed parts of Owen’s letter to his mother. You then walk up and out into a small amphitheatre of curved white walls and benches for listening and contemplation.
The inauguration ceremony was impressive, including the French Minister for Culture, the first secretary from the British Embassy, Peter Owen, (Wilfred’s nephew), and representatives of all sponsors of the project. More than 500 people attended and a band played old tunes from WW1.
We were lucky enough to meet up with Gillian Clarke, National Poet of Wales, and her husband; and with Joachim Utz, German translator of Owen’s work, and his wife. We also met members of the French Wilfred Owen Association as well as the British Society.
Now we consider the next steps. Suffolk Poetry society and poetryWivenhoe hope to maintain our connection with the project and work to develop some projects linked with it.
There is much work to be done, but we’ll keep on carrying on!
Contacts: Judith Wolton, Diana Hirst from SPS
Pam Job from poetryWivenhoe and SPS.
Anne Boileau, Chair, SPS.
