More than 10,000 hand-crocheted poppies will cascade 20 meters down from the Museum of the Goldfields’ Ivanhoe headframe to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One, and the world’s hope for a peaceful future.

The Museum of the Goldfields will host the official dedication of the commemorative installation Poppies for Peace on Sunday 11 November from 9am to 10am. The ceremony will conclude with those who attend being asked to contribute to the installation by placing poppies in the grassed area surrounding the headframe.

Museum of the Goldfields manager Cara Haymes said the Poppies for Peace project has helped bring the community together to honour Australian soldiers.

“We have been overwhelmed with the community support of the Poppies for Peace project. We welcome everyone to the dedication ceremony to pay tribute to and honour those who served in the war,” Ms Haymes said.

“A lot of time and effort was put into creating this incredible installation. Volunteers crocheted each individual poppy, including red poppies to represent the soldiers who were killed in conflict, purple poppies to represent the animals killed in conflict, and white poppies to represent the hope for peace.”

Members of the Goldfields community, the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, and the Kalgoorlie and Boulder Returned and Services League clubs have been instrumental in bringing this project to life.

“Volunteers have been attending our poppy making workshops over the last 10 months and people have been crocheting anything from a handful of poppies to more than 2,000 each in some cases. We even had some visitors to Kalgoorlie send in a bunch of poppies from South Africa,” Ms Haymes said.

Ms Haymes said the Poppies for Peace project had been in development since April 2017. It was the idea of former Museum manager Zoe Scott, with assistance from Public Programs Officer Peta Osborne. Ms Scott drew her inspiration from the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red public art installation created around the Tower of London in 2014, where red ceramic poppies were placed to mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War One.

In addition to the Museum’s installation, the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder will have 2,000 crocheted poppies displayed in front of its administration offices on Hannan Street. Volunteers are asked to help ‘plant’ the poppies on Saturday 10 November at 1pm.

Visitors will be able to view the Poppies for Peace installation for about one month, weather permitting.