Every household in Preston where a young man died in the First World War is to receive a piece of artwork.
AdvertisementIn commemoration of the hundreds of men who gave their lives in the conflict artist Laura Jamieson has set about a Roll of Honour.
Laura, 36, used a collection of forms from the Harris Museum where Prestonians filled in the names of their loved ones who died in WW1. These were added to the roll of honour.
The 1,957 pieces of artwork will arrive in the post to the last known address of the men who died.
Laura, who lives in the Plungington area, said: “The effects of war are a difficult concept to understand unless you have lived through one. When I discovered the Roll of Honour forms I was struck by how this conflict had touched every street in Preston, crossed class boundaries and how it must have changed the community of Preston for ever.
“I am asking those who receive the artworks in the form of postcards to write back to me. The Roll of Honour documents the people who lived in Preston during 1914-18 and were part of an accidental community who were joined together only by the awful reality of losing someone they loved. I’m interested in what that same community in Preston looks like now, people joined together by the secret history of the houses that they live in.”
A map below shows the addresses of those who died and were from Preston.
The postcards are due to arrive during the course of the next week and an exhibition about the project is due to begin at the Harris Museum from Friday 8 April to Saturday 16 July.
Related: Guided tours telling the stories of Preston’s unsung war heroes return
The project is funded by the Arts Council and Preston City Council. You can follow Laura’s progress on the Postcard To Preston website.
Have you received a postcard? What do you think about the project? Let us know in the comments below