Claudia Chagoya
Objective: A Rose for Remembrance is an artistic project that consists of incised rose petals encased in resin. Its objective is to name and commemorate women, girls, transgender women, and people who identified as female whose lives have been cut short due to gender violence. This project seeks to collaborate with family members and organizations who would like to share the name of a person who was a victim of femicide, a relevant date or dates, and a short text that describes a fond memory or short story of their loved one. Participating families/individuals will receive an encapsulated petal with the name and dates of their relative or friend who was a victim of femicide.
The intention of this artwork is to become a traveling memorial that helps to make visible gender violence and femicide throughout the continent. A Rose for Remembrancealso seeks to create a dialogue between Mexico and Canada on these issues. For this reason, an important part of this memorial is to invite spokespersons from both countries to talk about femicide during the presentation of the work.
The call aims to collect 100 names before January 23, 2022.
How to participate:
To participate, family members and/or individuals are invited to share:
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Name of the person you want to commemorate.
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Relevant date(s), for example: birth, death, etc.
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Fond memory or short story about your loved one.
You can send this information through the form below.
*Note: The information requested in the form is optional, so if you are interested in participating, but do not feel comfortable sharing personal information such as the short story or dates, you can send only the name. Furthermore, if you prefer to keep the anonymity of your loved one but still want to commemorate them, there is the possibility of opting for: "Name non-disclosed," "Anonymous," or an equivalent of your choice. Just be sure to indicate it on the submission form.
What will happen to the information I provide?
The names and dates gathered will be incised by hand on rose petals, which will then be individually pressed and encapsulated in resin (reference images at the end of this document). With each name that I collect, I will make two encased petals: one of them will be for the participating family/individual and the other will be part of the memorial. The petals for the memorial will be exhibited at the end of the current year, as well as in future exhibitions and events.
As for the fond memory or short story about the person, this will be incorporated into this website in a section created especially to showcase this project. In this section, the names, images of the petals and the short story will be displayed, along with links and URLs. This URLs will direct the viewers to websites of organizations that provide support, donations for organizations or families, as well as links to further research on the matter.
The purpose of the encased petals artwork and the website is to create both an in-person and online memorial.
Additional Information and Acknowledgements:
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Project motivation: A Rose for Remembranceis a project born from the need to heal collective wounds caused by gender violence, and the negligence of the authorities that hinder the resolution of these cases of femicide. It also seeks to create community between families in Mexico and Canada. Therefore, an important part of this artwork-memorial is to provide a talk about the issue with representatives from both countries.
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Mentorship: The project is being guided by Traditional Knowledge Keeper Cheryle Chagnon-Greyeyes of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation. She is an activist and spokesperson who advocates for justice for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S).
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Acknowledgements: In the spirit of reconciliation, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge that we live and work on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Stoney Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation Region 3, and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.
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Funding: This project is being funded by Calgary Arts Development, in collaboration with the City of Calgary.