HAVE A HE(ART)?
It is a cold, blustery but sunny day as the public gathers in preparation for the ceremony orchestrated by ROSE (Remember Our Sisters Everywhere). I am keeper of the hearts…the 120 felt, stuffed red heart pins that I invite witnesses and participants to the ceremony, to pin on their sleeve. I wear my heart on my left sleeve. More people gather, there is one lone heckler who verbally calls us down in anger, cursing us as he rides around the Marker of Change memorial site. But he is outnumbered and soon exhausts his rant and leaves.
The Solidarity Choir members come and gather inside the circle of rose granite benches, each bench represents one of the 14 women murdered by Marc LePine in 1989. In the centre of each bench is a shallow area chiseled out to catch rain, a symbolic pool of tears.
Dr. Hedy Fry is our Mistress of Ceremonies. She is such an elegant speaker, urging us to speak out against the abolishment of the Gun Control Legislation that Prime Minister Harper is attempting to banish. He is the cold heart in the midst of our sea of hearts gathered here today on this 20th. anniversary of the Montreal massacre.
There are dispensers of hot apple cider, hot chocolate and coffee with sweet buns for people attending.
We Rose members are pleasantly surprised to see lots of media present here as memorial ceremonies take place across Canada on this anniversary date.
Lady Justice accompanied with her troupe of Vices and Virtues and led by Saxaphonist Coate Cook. What a wonderful sight as they dressed in black carry the long black veil of Lady Justice in a wheel chair progress from the train station to the perimeter of the Marker of Change. Lady Justice is led blindbolded into the centre of the cirlcle that is rimmed with participants wearing red scarves as the inner circle and white scraves forming the outer circle. A lovely performance by Lady Justice as she performs a salt cleansing ritual.
The choir weaves songs of Bread and Roses, We Shall Not be Moved and other tunes between moments of silence, Aboriginal blessings and performances to culminate in an invitation to add the red and white scarves, each printed with a message, onto a clothes line strung between 2 trees nearby. These remain til evening. The scarves flutter like Tibetan prayer flags in the wind or katas, the offering scarves so often seen at Buddhist ceremonies. The sun is still shining as the team of participants are invited to the Foundation Cafe for a closing lunch and chat.
It is deeply satisfying to see the culmination of brain storming, collaboration and our sweat equity in the amount of public participation, variety between speeches, remembering, advocacy and community input. We have not forgotten – here in this city whose notoriety includes Robert Picton, and the growing list of women missing or murdered on the downtown east side or the over 50 women murdered and missing on the highway of tears, the over 500 aboriginal women murdered or missing or the 137 women murdered/missing in BC counted by the Sisters in Spirit group.
Remembered by Haruko Okano
December 6, 2009
Tags: activist art, community art, feminism
