Danny Boyle, Rachel Whiteread and Gillian Wearing part of vast WW1 centenary programme, 14-18 Now

A vast programme of creative responses to the WW1 centenary has been commissioned by UK arts organisation 14-18 Now, including new work by director Danny Boyle and artists Rachel Whiteread and Gillian Wearing.

Over 150 artists and organisations will take part in event, taking place across the UK and internationally from March – November 2018, also including filmmaker Peter Jackson, artists John Akomfrah, William Kentridge, performer Akram Khan and composer Anna Meredith. The huge programme responds to different aspects of the war, and aims to “bring the centenary of the first world war alive for young people by engaging them through contemporary culture”.

Danny Boyle’s new work will close the programme of events on Armistice Day on 11 November 2018, inviting people across the UK to mark the centenary. More details are to be released soon.

Gillian Wearing has created a statue of women’s rights campaigner Millicent Fawcett, which will be the first statue of a woman to be installed in Parliament Square. Rachel Whiteread, whose popular show at Tate Britain closed yesterday (21 January), has been commissioned to make a new work in Dalby Forest, Yorkshire, marking the centenary of the Forestry Commission – set up to expand Britain’s forests after depletion in the war.

Peter Jackson will premiere a new 3D film including never-before-seen archival footage of WW1; and in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, William Kentridge will explore the story of African porters and carriers who served in the war.

John Akomfrah will create a multi-channel moving image work about “the millions of forgotten African servicemen who fought and died in WW1”. Events organiser Artichoke will host a “mass participation artwork” marking the centenary of women being allowed to vote, with commissions by over 100 women artists.

Jenny Waldman, director of 14-18 Now, said in a statement: “Artists are reinventing the war memorial as living art that captures our imagination and rests in our memories.”