A memory is a memory when it lingers in our mind. It sings, it plays, it reminds us of the many things that we can only remember. The scenes of gunshots, struggles, marches and resistance to slavery and racism that many of us future generations never experienced may be remembered as a nostalgia. A nostalgia of a place that we never knew.
This space is not intended to recreate the past. It intends to evoke the feel and the nothingness of slavery, the longing for the slaves to be free. The images that we may have seen in films and literatures, they can be remembered differently in different minds.
We long for freedom, we long for equality.
The space is designed in terms of passages: (1) A recessing pod where we may sit and contemplate, calmly sheltered by the shades provided by the interlacing timbers; (2) a small corridor (about 150 cm in height) where it will fit children; (3) and a soaring passage gazing into the sun. Each of these passages are covered by a series of timber strips,
In many parts of the space, there are scribbles of excerpts from a number of important speeches, declarations and quotes concerning the equality of men, spread around in places where children could read i.e. along the interior of the small corridor, the corner of the space, and the bottom of a timber strip. In areas where children may play with the structure.
These excerpts, I hope, could start a conversation between a father and a son, a teacher and a student and among the passerby.
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We can only look into the future and continue the struggle for equality. We will be informed by history and events will be recorded in films and literatures, but we must always strive for the future. We can only look into the future.