The iconic ceramic poppies travelling the UK as part of the World War I centenary commemorations could come to Aberdeen if a bid to host an exhibition is successful.
City council finance chief Willie Young has revealed the local authority will be submitting an application to host the dramatic display in 2018.
He suggested the Remembrance Hall in the city’s art gallery complex and Marischal College as possible suitable sites.
Expressions of interest to showcase Wave and Weeping Window in the final year of the WWI centenary are now being invited.
The sculptures are from the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red installation by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper that surrounded the Tower of London in 2014.
Since last year, the smaller compositions have been presented at various locations, including St Magnus Cathedral in Orkney for the Jutland centenary and Black Watch Museum in Perth.
The aim is for the poppies to be seen as widely as possible around the UK before the end of 2018.
Mr Young said: “The council is proposing to put in a bid and hopefully we will be successful.
“I think Aberdeen and Aberdonians will want to pay their respects to those who fought for their country.”
Scottish Secretary David Mundell welcomed the move and said he would encourage other communities across the north of Scotland to come forward too.
He added: “The poppies have had an enormous impact. I was personally very moved when I attended the Jutland centenary to see them in Kirkwall. It was stunning.
“I think wherever they are, they will make an extraordinary contribution – whether it’s Aberdeen or another location in the north or elsewhere in Scotland.
“I would encourage everyone to come forward and have the ambition to bid.”
Bids must be submitted to 14-18 Now, the WWI arts programme, by January, with the successful applicants due to be announced next summer.
