Opium

This is a new artwork, installed in the Sunken Gardens within Lews Castle Grounds. They depict opium poppies, the source of wealth for Sir James Matheson, who owned the island between 1844 and 1878. Opium was also a source for war, as fomented by Matheson between Britain and China, in order to maintain the demand for the addictive drug. Opium was a source for a mass addiction in China. It is still the source for strong painkillers like morphine and codein, and the base material for the illicit drug known as heroin. I like the installation. I dislike what it stands for.