This iconic sculpture, standing 27ft high in Birmingham’s Victoria Square, is made up of 100,000 knifes which were collected as part of a weapons amnesty by police forces across the country.
The art work was commissioned and created by the British Ironwork Centre to highlight the concerns of the rising number of knife attacks and took the artist, Alfie Bradley, four years to create. The national monument stands against violence and aggression and was made to highlight just how bad knife crime is within the UK and how something needs to change before it’s too late.
The British Ironwork centre got in contact with the Home Office to ask their permission to collect surrendered knives and weapons from all 43 UK police forces and, after permission was granted, they started to create knife banks. The banks were placed in external and internal locations across each force area and, through working with the police forces, they were able to organise knife amnesties and surrenders in their region. The police forces increased their PR and outreach to their communities to raise awareness of the affects of knife crime and violence in the hope it would prevent people carrying knives and encourage them to surrender weapons anonymously.
In total, over 200 knife banks were created and the West Mercia Police organised a police escort to ensure the knives returning from each force arrives safely to the ironwork workshop. The artist, Alfie Bradley, carefully worked through the collection of knives and weapons to determine which ones he could work with. Each blade was sterilised and blunted and a number of weapons he received were still in evidence packaging with some even including traces of blood.
Some of the blades used to create the wings were inscribed with the names of lost loved ones of the 80 or so families who have supported the project, with messages of loss and love to those who have tragically died from a knife attack or injury. Other blades were inscribes with messages of disbelief of how bad knife crime has got in England. There was even a selection of knives which were inscribed by ex-offenders who have seen the error in their ways and are now striving to work against knife crime, with messages of forgiveness and regret.
The Knife Angel Campaign, #savealife #surrenderyourknife has seen the British Ironwork Centre work with a lot of West Midlands Police, knife crime charities, and the families and victims affected to spread awareness of the project and rising numbers of attacks across the country.
The large sculpture had been displayed in Coventry’s Cathedral the month prior and has been in Victoria Square since the 8th of May after the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner made an application to host it in Birmingham.
Dr Lynette Kelly, Assistant Police and Crime Commissioner said this project can help widen the conversation around knife crime in the city:
” We have all seen the devastating effects that knife crime is having on communities right across the UK, including in our city of Birmingham. We want to make sure we work with our younger communities to create a safer city and to encourage peace and create greater hope.
” The Knife Angel is a powerful, emotive visualisation of the devastating impact knife crime has on young lives, families and communities – and that devastation is something we’ve seen too often in recent months in the city. “
The monument will be showcased in the centre of Birmingham for 28 days before it moves onto a new city.
