Throughout Barcelona, a public art project maps site-specific memories involving people lost to AIDS
Added: (Sat May 25 2002)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
.:: I Thought About You: an official program of the XIV International AIDS Conference::.
---------PRESS RELEASE------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 23, 2002
I THOUGHT ABOUT YOU
Throughout Barcelona, a public art project maps site-specific memories involving people lost to AIDS
"...you laughed, squeezed my hand, and said 'there are more romantic places in this city than this bus stop.' But that is still where I think of you the most..."
BARCELONA - From the table at the Café del Sol where a brother and sister discussed where they would be in 10 years to the spot at the side of the lake in Parc de la Ciutadella where a couple first kissed, the streets, buildings and public areas of Barcelona have been the backdrop to many shared moments in the lives of people who have been affected by AIDS. And while some of the people who shared in the moments have gone, the locations remain as containers of the memories and moments they witnessed.
I Thought About You, an official program of the XIV International AIDS Conference, is a public project which will gather people's memories of loved ones lost to AIDS and document the memories and the locations where they occurred to reveal the stories and emotions contained by seemingly anonymous areas throughout Barcelona. I Thought About You will begin with public submissions of memories from June 1-21, with the full project coinciding with the conference from July 7-12, 2002.
The project will begin on June 1 with a series of public campaigns to invite residents, visitors and individuals worldwide to submit a memory or moment in their lives, tied to a particular location in Barcelona and involving someone who has been lost to AIDS. A specially designed map of the city created from the submissions, documenting the locations and the memories they contain, will be distributed throughout Barcelona and to members of the Conference from July 7-12. A series of plaques will also be placed at selected locations. Each plaque will bear an excerpt of that location's memory to allow "incidental participants" - people who come across the project by chance - to take part in it and discover that their day-to-day activities may involve areas which hold special meaning for people whose lives have been touched by AIDS.
"I Thought About You reveals the significance that many locations throughout Barcelona hold within the lives of those who have been affected by AIDS, and reveals the stories and emotions contained within even the most ordinary of locations in the city," says Scott G Burnham, creator of I Thought About You. "I would like the project to encourage a greater sense of a shared environment among the city's residents and visitors, and a shared concern as the epidemic has woven itself into the narratives of Barcelona and cities everywhere."
I Thought About You encourages people to submit personal memories of loved ones lost to AIDS which are connected to locations in Barcelona via the project website: www.ithoughtaboutyou.com. Memories involving other cities and locations can also be submitted. Following the conference, the website will be expanded to allow site-specific memories of those lost to AIDS to be shared globally.
For additional information, contact:
Scott G Burnham
22 Wellington Street
London WC2E 7DD
tel (44) (0)208 281 1829
scott@ithoughtaboutyou.com
http://www.ithoughtaboutyou.com
About Scott G Burnham: Burnham is known for creating projects which encourage people to relate to the city and their environment in a different way. He has created projects for cities and organisations throughout Europe and North America, including the UrbanMade and Memory Site projects and BLUE, a World AIDS Day 2000 event created for London's Royal National Theatre.