Poppies made of lamb's heart to appear across London

Artist Paddy Hartley is set to show sculptural poppies made out of pathologically preserved lamb’s heart tissue across London from early November. Funded by the Wellcome Trust, the work is titled Papaver Rhoeas and draws on the synonymity of the poppy in commemorating the World War I.

The project is a result of a two-year collaboration with scientists at Kings College London and the Gordon Museum of Pathology, and the work is an “emotive and thought provoking investigation of contemporary notions of remembrance and the cultural phenomenon of memorialisation.” The Saatchi Gallery, The Royal Artillery Museum, the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Florence Nightingale Museum are just some of the institutions displaying Paddy’s poppies. The flowers, presented in glass jars that mimic spent World War I artillery shells, have been processed to gradually disintegrate over the period of their display and can be seen from 3 November until 29 November.