NAMING THE LOST Memorials, City Lore, Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders, Great Small Works, Green-Wood Cemetery, and twenty community partners team up for a new public art memorial:
“THE MANY LOSSES FROM COVID-19”
Composed of tributes from 20 community groups, the memorial will be on view May 3rd – May 29th.
Join us for the dedication ceremony on
Thursday, May 11th at Green-Wood Cemetery
6pm – 8:30pm
Fifth Ave and 25th St in Brooklyn
The ceremony will be live streamed on City Lore’s Facebook page
7pm – 8:30pm
Livestream link: https://fb.me/e/150DN2dTb
Supported by a major grant from the Mellon Foundation
Three years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, more than 1.1 million people across the country—including 79,000 in New York—have lost their lives to the virus. Countless others continue to suffer from Long COVID. The mounting toll of death and diminished health has inflicted immeasurable pain, but also brought communities together to provide support and comfort to those suffering the reverberating effects of the virus.
In the memory of those impacted by the pandemic, NAMING THE LOST Memorials (NTLM), City Lore, Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Border, Great Small Works, and The Green-Wood Cemetery are collaborating on a new memorial—“The Many Losses from COVID-19.” Available for public viewing and engagement on Wednesday, May 3rd, it will consist of tributes made by 20 community groups from across New York City. The memorial will hold a prominent place along Green-Wood’s historic wrought-iron fence, near the Main Entrance at Fifth Avenue at 25th Street. There will be a designated area for members of the public to add their own memorial contributions.
Contributors to the memorial, including community partners, artists, and activists, will join at Green-Wood on Thursday, May 11th from 6-8:30pm for a dedication and activation ceremony. The free event begins with opportunities to create a tribute to put on the memorial or write a poem followed by a procession from the Main Entrance to the Historic Chapel at 6:45. The ceremony will follow at 7pm and feature remarks from New York City Council member Alexa Avilés, traditional song and dance performances, and a participatory ritual of remembrance. It will be an opportunity to commemorate those who have died from COVID-19 and to reflect on the many other losses suffered by New Yorkers since March 2020.
Performers for the prelude to the activation ceremony include acclaimed performance artist Annie Lanzilotto and world class cellist Lori Goldston at the POEMobile. Drummers from all five boroughs will perform in the procession leading up to the Activation Ceremony outside the historic Green-Wood Chapel at 7:00 pm. Artists include Winston “Jeggae” Hoppie, a Brooklyn Guyanese spiritual leader and drummer; Salieu Suso with songs about relationships during pandemic; Jewish singer Yula Beeri; a performance of the Garifuna Abeihamani tradition; Brooklyn Blues singer Beareather Reddy; a speaker for Long Covid Justice. The event closes with the group Mazarte performing the Mexican butterfly dance with audience participation. There will be a participatory candle-lighting ceremony that allows everyone to name the losses they have suffered.
Rain or Shine. If it’s raining, we will be at the Modern Chapel.
To create this memorial, NAMING THE LOST Memorials has collaborated with 20 community groups from across the city whose constituents have suffered significant losses from COVID-19. Participants include: Casa Yurumein (Bronx); Arab American Association of New York, Guyana Cultural Association, Mixteca, Museo de Los Sures, Parent Child Relationship Association, Project Reach Youth Safe, Purelements Evolution in Dance, and Women’s Empowerment Coalition of New York (Brooklyn); The City’s “Missing Them”, The W.O.W. Project, and Yaffa Cultural Arts (Manhattan); Bangladesh Institute of Performing Arts, the Jews of Jackson Heights, and International Dancer Zaman (Queens); La Colmena and Staten Island Museum (Staten Island); and Jews of Color arts workshop (“The Workshop”), Long Covid Justice, and New Moon Sisters (multiple locations throughout the city).
