9/11

This Week in London – The Bayeux Tapestry blockbuster nears opening; new 9/11 display at IWM London; and, join a Star Trek world record attempt…

by exploringlondon
The tapestry exhibition was advertised in Piccadilly Circus earlier this year. PICTURE: Courtesy of Trustees of the British Museum

• King Charles III and President Emmanuel Macron visited the Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition at the British Museum this week ahead of its opening to the public next week. On display in the UK for the first time since it was made, the tapestry depicts events leading up to the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of 1066 and will be shown at the British Museum until July next year while its usual home in Bayeux, northern France, is being renovated. The tapestry was likely commissioned by a Norman patron – believed to be William the Conqueror’s brother Bishop Odo, and made by English embroiderers using manuscript drawings from Canterbury – the latter a fact which led the King to quip in his speech at the museum that it could have been named the “Canterbury Embroidery”. In exchange for the tapestry, the UK is loaning some treasures of the British Museum, including the Sutton Hoo Treasure and some of the Lewis chess pieces, to museums in France. The first batch of tickets to see what’s been described as a “wonder of the medieval world” have sold out with further tickets to be released in October and January. For more, see www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/bayeux-tapestry

• A new permanent photography exhibition featuring powerful images of the 9/11 attack on New York City opens at the Imperial War Museum London tomorrow. The images were taken by Bill Biggart, who died when the World Trade Center’s North Tower collapsed, and were retrieved with his camera from the wreckage. It is the first time the images have been shown in a public exhibition outside the US. The images are displayed around a section of steelwork recovered from Ground Zero and alongside other photographs taken by photojournalist Suzanne Plunkett in the streets surrounding the World Trade Center. On Saturday, IWM London will host IWM Reflections: 9/11, a free daylong event which brings together first-hand testimony, personal reflection, expert discussion and live music. Broadcaster and chartered counselling psychologist Dr Sian Williams will host the day which will also feature Janice Brooks, who was working in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on 11th September, 2001 as well as a string quartet from the English Chamber Orchestra performing Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, and a range of speakers exploring the wider legacy of 9/11 across journalism, the military response, faith and community. Entry to the exhibition and day is free. For more, see https://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-london.

• A world record attempt for the ‘Most People Performing a Vulcan Salute Simultaneously’ will take place at the Science Museum in South Kensington next Tuesday night. The attempt will take place at the museum’s free Star Trek Lates when visitors are encouraged to wear their finest Starfleet uniform and join the record attempt. It forms part of the global digital ‘Star Trek Vulcan Salute’ celebration which connects fans around the world and marks 60 years to the day since Star Trek made its US television debut in 1966. Visitors to the museum will also have a last chance to experience the Star Trek Warp Trail which brings together objects from the Star Trek archives and historic items on display in the museum as it explores the connection between the franchise and real-world scientific innovation. The trail is slated to close on 13th September. Star Trek Lates is free, but visitors must book a ticket in advance to attend and take part in the record attempt. For more, see www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/star-trek-lates.

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LondonLife – Remembering September 11

by exploringlondon

London, along with the rest of the world, will this week pause to remember 11th September, 2001, when nearly 3,000 people died after planes were flown into New York’s World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon (a fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania). In preparation for the 10th anniversary, London’s Mayor Boris Johnson unveiled a 10 metre high sculptural memorial, After 9/11, in Battersea Park which controversially uses steel girders from the towers in its design. But London already has a memorial to the events of 11th September. This is located in Grosvenor Square Garden, opposite the US Embassy. Opened on 11th September, 2003, the memorial features a pavilion which has three bronze plaques listing the name of UK citizens, UK Overseas Territories and people of dual nationality who lost their lives. The site was chosen partly on the basis that it was at the foot of the nearby Roosevelt Memorial that people laid flowers and lit candles in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. Plants at the memorial include white Bianca Roses which were among the flowers in the Queen’s bouquet laid at Westminster Abbey in a service held on 29th November, 2001, and were the roses that family members laid on the innocent victims memorial outside the abbey . In addition, more than 3,000 of the rose petals cascaded from the Whispering Gallery to the altar of St Paul’s Cathedral on the  first anniversary service.