The Knife Angel.
What is happening this week in Nottingham has brought home to us once again what our society continues to face with the tragedies of knife crime. Every week, almost every day in places like London, someone’s family is being destroyed by someone attacking and often killing a member of the family. Many are young people, a high proportion from an ethnic background. Whoever they are they are plunged into grief. It is a grief all the more distressing because there is rarely any reason for the action.
When I was searching for an appropriate prayer to pray for the young students and the faithful school caretaker approaching retirement – that is, Barnaby, Grace and Ian – I found a moving one which has come from the people and city of Nottingham.
I also became acquainted with the Knife Angel and a prayer associated with it, which I have put below.
The Knife Angel Project is an initiative of the National Youth Anti-Violence Tour & Programme.
It is a striking sculpture made from over 100,000 seized blades. Information linked with the Project says that: it was “specifically created to highlight the negative effects of violent behaviour whilst solidifying our critical need for social change. Not only does the Angel act as a catalyst for turning the tide on violent and aggressive behaviour, but it is also acts as a beautiful memorial designed to celebrate those lives who have been lost through these violent and thoughtless actions.”
The main goal is about educating and raising national awareness around anti-violence and anti-aggression.
That hope has been realised thanks to a co-operation between communities, police constabularies, local councils and the
Home Office.
Hundreds of thousands of knives have been removed from the streets of where the Angel has visited but its legacy continues far beyond the actual visits.
In the lead up to the creation of the Angel, the police had been organizing ‘knife banks’ and holding amnesties to remove as many knives out of circulation where they could no harm. No one was assisting and they had to pay for this initiative themselves. National Youth Anti-Violence Tour & Programme, with its special expertise were able to help. They were able to set up and help pay for the creation of over 200 banks!
You can learn more about the work by reading their website.
The idea of the Knife Angel followed on from the collecting of the knives.
Knife Angel Objectives
National Youth Anti-Violence Group say that ,
Since the Knife Angel’s very conception, we have always had a singular objective in mind – to bring about social change. The Knife Angel was always intended to educate children, young people and adults about the harmful effects that violent behaviour has on communities all across our nation. It has also helped to raise better awareness, helped those carrying knives to renounce violence as a solution for solving disputes, and encouraged leading bodies to create better initiatives to turn the tide on aggressive behaviour. It symbolises a call for change whilst acting as a National Memorial for victims of knife crime and their loved ones.
The Sculpture is known as the National Monument against Violence and Aggression. The Knife Angel is a contemporary sculpture formed of 100,000 knives created by artist Alfie Bradley and the British Ironworks Centre based in Oswestry, England. It was in the form of an angel and it is 27ft (8.2 m) high. It was completed in 2018.
The construction was complex, involving sheet metal to form the basic shape. Alfie then worked through the collection of knives and weapons, very carefully, to determine what he had to work with. Each blade was blunted and sterilised before he could contemplate working with them. Each knife was carefully welded onto the form. Alfie then turned his attention to the most focal point of the angel, its wings. Each blade’s handle was removed and place on the wings to give a featherlike appearance.
Many of the blades contain inscriptions – in memory of loved ones who have died so violently; some asked for forgiveness; others were offered it. Some expressed disbelief and astonishment at the scale of what is happening on our streets.
But the Angel is more than functional. Many think it to be incredibly beautiful but it is more than a work of art. Those who made it possible state this as its legacy:
The Knife Angel is so much more than the artwork itself. We want to create a legacy that travels with and beyond the Angel’s presence. We want each hosting location to continue spreading awareness for anti-violence, and all that the Angel stands for, long after it has left their location. The Angel is a catalyst for nationwide change.
The ‘Angel’ is taking its message on its travels which began in Liverpool Cathedral.
Since then it has travelled far and wide, Birkenhead, Redcar, Newport, Gloucester Cathedral, Slough, Guildford Cathedral, Crewe, Nuneaton, Lichfield, Harlow in Essex …. And so the journey with its message goes on. The impetus for it all can be summed her by a saying of Helen Keller:
“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much”
Loving God, you call us to turn our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into pruning hooks.
Begin your work of transformation in all whose lives are overshadowed by knife crime,
Replacing violence with peace, grief with consolation, fear with your perfect love.
Where communities are broken, send your Holy Spirit to heal.
And show us how we can join in your great work of reconciliation,
As you mend and restore all things
Through Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen
