‘The Last Post’, Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Honiton, Devon
16 May – 27 June.
Letters from Denmark have been used to make a thousand paper daisies for a new artwork commemorating the end of the Danish national postal service.
Gillian Taylor has created an installation using the correspondence she received following an invitation to the people of Denmark to send her their last letters. The daisies now cascade down the stairwell at Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Honiton, England.
Gillian said:
“The way we communicate has changed so much over the years. We just don’t express ourselves in writing in the same way that people used to in times gone by. I love receiving a handwritten letter or card, but it doesn’t happen nearly so often as it used to.
“PostNord ending their delivery of letters and removing the post boxes feels like such a significant moment that I wanted to mark it by creating some art.”
Gillian invited people in Denmark to write to her before the final collection from post boxes by PostNord on 30 December 2025.
The letters Gillian received share people’s thoughts on PostNord’s decision to end letter deliveries, as well as memories of meaningful letters from the past. One writer recalled the family gathering round the kitchen table with the smell of coffee, listening to her mother reading letters from an aunt in Norway. Another reflected on how long it takes to write a letter by hand – even having to swap pens when the first one ran out of ink. Others have included old Christmas cards, pictures, and an envelope from 1926 addressed to Berlingske Tidende, Denmark’s oldest newspaper.
The letters have been used to create the installation – The Last Post – at Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Honiton, England. Gillian has used copies of the letters, their envelopes and contents including maps, original art and glansbilleder. Also included in the installation, are some daisies made from copies of letters written by HC Andersen held by the Royal Danish Library. She chose the daisy because it is the national flower of Denmark as well as a symbol of new beginnings and hope – offering an optimistic note, despite the sad end of the handwritten letter.
An accompanying soundscape has been specially composed by Laura Reid and uses a French horn, taking inspiration from the post horn which appeared on Denmark’s post boxes. When the postal service began, the post horn would be sounded to announce the arrival of the letters. Voices reading the letters’ text are layered over the music.
‘The Last Post’ will be at Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Honiton, Devon from 16 May until 27 June 2026.
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Gillian Taylor 07761 546075
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