Recognizing World AIDS Day, sound
installation at NYC Memorial all December
BY TEQUILA MINSKY
An experiential sound installation
runs nightly at 7 p.m. during the
month of December at the New
York City AIDS Memorial, Greenwich
Avenue and West 12th Street, in Greenwich
Village.
Hear Me: Voices of the Epidemic is an
original, sound-based installation in recognition
of World AIDS Day, Dec. 1. The
approximately 45-minute long soundtrack
is composed of historical texts, poetry,
speeches, music, and more that capture
the history of the epidemic.
Examples include a powerful speech by
Vito Russo (1946-90), a song composed by
Michael Callen (1955-93), historic recordings
of an ACT UP-led protest made by
artist David Wojnarowicz (1954-92), and
poems by Melvin Dixon (1950-92) and
Kia LaBeija, who was born in 1990 at St.
Vincent’s Hospital, on whose former site
the Memorial sits today.
Hear Meis preceded during the day
beginning at 10 a.m., by a recording featuring
the names of over 2,000 New Yorkers,
representing a fraction of the 100,000+ lost
to AIDS, and read by What Would an HIV
Doula Do?, a group of activists, caregivers,
On Dec. 1 World AIDS Days Day, Villagers gathered to listen to testimonies, poems,
and historical texts that capture the history of the AIDS epidemic.
friends, long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS,
and people living with HIV today.
All visitors are asked to wear a mask or
face covering, maintain a 6-foot distance
between each person not in the same
household, and respect all other cityregulated
social distancing protocols.
“In times of uncertainty, people look to
the past for guidance,” says New York City
AIDS Memorial Executive Director Dave
Harper.
PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY
“Since our dedication on World AIDS
Day in 2016, it has been the goal of the
New York City AIDS Memorial to create a
living and breathing tribute to the 100,000
New Yorkers lost to AIDS, and to the activists
and caretakers who led the fi ght to end
AIDS. This installation will connect the
power of this place to the voices of the past,
allowing visitors to learn and engage within
our sacred space. “
Educational and cultural initiatives help
push forward the Memorial’s mission of remembrance
and creating public awareness.
Harper adds, “We look forward to welcoming
the public to the Memorial during
a time when cultural projects have been
limited by this ongoing pandemic.”
“During this time, I think a lot of us are
trying to fi gure out how to be together,”
observes the creative consultant forHear
Me, Theodore (ted) Kerr.
“Every night, for a month, Hear Me
is an open invitation for people to social
distance together, a place to refl ect on the
past, gather in the present, and imagine and
work towards a better future.”
He emphasizes how the use of AIDS
history and voices from movements in
this sound installation, and the Memorial
becomes a place for community.
Hear Meis supported by a new, online
six-episode conversation series called A
Time to Listen, featuring a wide breadth of
thought leaders, artists, and activists sharing
current experiences and knowledge of
AIDS history connected to New York City
and beyond through a discussion of media,
including speeches, songs, poems, plays, and
oral histories. For more information and a full
list of participants:www.nycaidsmemorial.
org/a-time-to-listenor: www.atimetolisten.org
Greenwich Village photo exhibit supports
memory of fallen health care workers
BY TEQUILA MINSKY
Windows at 9 West 8th
St. in Greenwich Village
have taken on the
role of gallery walls to exhibit all
sorts of interpretations of New
York City — augmented images,
abstracts, documentary photography,
personal, urbanscapes, black
and white and in color.
This whole exhibition supports
The Hero Art Project, a way of
commemorating health care
workers—more than 1,000, in
all — lost to COVID-19.
A myriad of ways to visually
express this great city are hung
in 16 frames, projecting fi ve to
ten digital images in an on-going
loop through the large storefront
windows.
This unique New York centric
show opened late October and,
because it was received so well,
continues until Dec. 20. Hours
The scavenger hunt asks people to look for elements in the
imagery and pay attention to the artist.
are on Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m.;
Saturdays from 4 to 6 p.m.; and
Sundays from 3 to 5 p.m.
“Twilight is a great time to
view the photographs,” says
curator and project organizer
Susannah Perlman.
Accompanying the images of
New York is a scavenger hunt — a
FILE PHOTO
chance to search for clues, win
prizes and get unique gifts.
Perlman, director of ARTHOUSE.
NYC gallery, is
concerned about grief and
remembrance.
“There are front-line health care
workers who gave the ultimate sacrifi
ce of their lives while working
to save the lives of others,” Perlman
said. “And, frequently, in these isolating
and challenging times there
hasn’t been a place for memorials
and proper recognition of those
we’ve lost.”
The Hero Art Project pairs
members of ARTHOUSE.NYC’s
artistic community with family
members of doctors, nurses and
other healthcare providers who
died from COVID-19.
Families select the artist and
art style that represents the spirit
of their loved one. The artists create
multi-media portraits of these
medical heroes to celebrate their
lives, sacrifi ces and legacies.
Thirty portraits were created
in the fi rst round of commemorations.
Ten families came to an
October outdoor event, the works
projected on a wall at The Big
Screen Plaza, West 29th Street
and 6th Avenue in Chelsea, behind
the Kimpton Hotel.
Nikki Friedman, whose father
Dr. Arthur Friedman died from
COVID in April, recognizes the
important of this sort of recognition
and was so moved that her
farther had been included in this
portrait commemoration.
“It was more powerful than
anticipated,” says Perlman. “Families
were very emotional, touched
by the fact that we remembered
and honored their loved ones.”
The Hero’s Project is reaching
out to more families and matching
them with artists from the ARTHOUSE.
NYC community. Its
next exhibition will be at The Big
Screen Plaza in April 2021 during
World Healthcare Workers Week.
Donations during the 8th
Street exhibition help support
this project.
ARTHOUSE.NYC creates a
home for emerging artists and professionals,
giving them a vehicle to
exhibit their work digitally. Originally,
the gallery occupied space on
Sullivan Street, then Washington
Street, and, prior to the pandemic
shutdown, White Street. Now it’s
based on West 8th Street.
4 December 3, 2020 Schneps Media
/www.nycaidsmemorial
/www.atimetolisten.org
/www.atimetolisten.org