As the nation approaches Remembrance Sunday, the Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent art charity, has launched an online petition seeking to establish public support for a set of stamps depicting British soldiers who have been killed in Iraq.
To kick start the campaign the Art Fund has gifted Steve McQueen's work of art, Queen and Country, to the Imperial War Museum (IWM) and hopes, with the support of the public, that the artist's original vision of producing Royal Mail stamps for his work will still be achieved.
The IWM commissioned McQueen in 2003 to respond to the conflict in Iraq and, taking the camaraderie and commitment of the young men and women he met there, he responded with proposals for a project that reflected upon national loss, intimate reflection and the ultimate sacrifice.
The result, which he called Queen and Country, was premiered in Manchester in July 2007 and is viewable at the IWM in London until January 2008.
"This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Queen and Country is a particularly important and meaningful work for me in that it is a collaboration with the families of the deceased and potentially with the whole nation," explained McQueen.
"It addresses our individual response to a face-to-face meeting with those who have died in our name. It is important to avoid euphemism. It is my profound hope that these portraits will be issued as stamps and will in this way enter the lifeblood of the country."
The work is a collaboration with the families of the deceased, to whom the artist acknowledges a huge debt of gratitude. Each photograph has been supplied by the next of kin.
Website for the Queen and Country public appeal.
Each family was consulted about the online appeal for real stamps and Mrs Julie Maddison, the mother of Christopher Maddison of the Royal Marines who died March 30 2003, is backing the campaign.
“A commemorative stamp is a small price to pay for a life," she said, "but it is a respectful way to remind us all of those who gave their lives for the war in Iraq whether we agreed with the war or not. Our soldiers had no choice but to go where they were sent but saw their job through bravely and with dignity."
“Please acknowledge this stamp as you will be acknowledging the ultimate sacrifice my beloved son gave for his country. Refusal to issue this stamp is tantamount to pretending this war and its deaths never happened. There are people who will feel extremely uncomfortable with the issue of these stamps but the outcome of decisions made has to be faced.”
At the start of the project 115 families were asked to participate, of whom 98 agreed. Since then 41 new families have been approached and the project has been updated with 39 new additions. The art project will continue until British Forces leave Iraq.
”The Art Fund is proud to lead an appeal to support this unique and powerful reflection upon war," added David Barrie, Director of The Art Fund.
"Queen and Country is in the highest tradition of war art commissions. Steve McQueen has found a deceptively simple and very moving way to express our complex feelings about war and we are well placed to campaign on his behalf for the completion of the work.”
