ORKNEY.- The iconic poppy sculpture Weeping Window has opened today at St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, marking the start of the UK’s Battle of Jutland commemorations taking place in Orkney throughout May and June 2016. Orkney is the furthest location the poppies have travelled to on their UK-wide tour organised by 14-18 NOW, the official arts programme for the First World War centenary.

The Battle of Jutland was the largest and most significant naval engagement of the First World War. Over 100,000 men in 250 ships fought in the battle, which took place in the North Sea off the coast of Denmark’s Jutland Peninsula. On 30 May 1916, the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet sailed to battle from its base at Scapa Flow in Orkney, under the command of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. The confrontation began on the afternoon of 31 May 1916 and more than 6,000 Royal Navy and 2,500 German sailors lost their lives.

The commemorative events in Orkney include a morning service at St Magnus Cathedral on 31 May, followed by a ceremony at the Lyness Royal Naval Cemetery in Hoy, where over 400 Commonwealth servicemen and German sailors from the First World War are buried. During the course of the following week, a full commemorative programme of events will take place across Orkney, culminating on 5 June with an event to commemorate the loss of 737 men, including the Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener, when HMS Hampshire was sunk by a mine west of Orkney off Marwick Head.

Weeping Window is one of two sculptures taken from the installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red – poppies and original concept by artist Paul Cummins and installation designed by Tom Piper. The installation was originally at HM Tower of London in 2014 where 888,246 poppies were displayed, one to honour every death in the British and Colonial forces of the First World War. The installation was by Paul Cummins Ceramics Limited in conjunction with Historic Royal Palaces. Weeping Window is the cascade of poppies that was seen pouring out of a high window down to the grass below.

14-18 NOW has commissioned a number of other major projects across Scotland in 2016 to mark the Battle of Jutland and the Battle of the Somme. Turner Prize-nominated artist Ciara Phillips will “dazzle” a ship in the historic port of Leith as part of the 2016 Edinburgh Art Festival; award-winning composer David Lang will premiere his choral piece Memorial Ground with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus at the East Neuk Festival; and a new musical theatre trilogy by the National Theatre of Scotland will explore the lives of three soldiers shot for cowardice during the First World War.

Jenny Waldman, Director, 14-18 NOW, said: “The Poppies have a profound effect on everyone as we take them on tour around the UK. They have an incredible ability to bring generations together to share stories of the First World War. It will be a particularly poignant moment to see the poppies frame the entrance of St Magnus Cathedral as it hosts the national commemorative service for the Battle of Jutland.

“I am hugely grateful to the government and all our supporters, in particular the Backstage Trust, and our transport sponsors DAF Trucks and NorthLink Ferries, for enabling this landmark presentation to happen.”