Memorializing queer lives that once walked this earth. We honor their memory through wall paintings, engravings, and virtual installations.
Life and death are threads that weave a fabric of creation, one can be alive but feel dead inside and taking your last breath can be another form of living. When we were brainstorming this project, I thought of how tragedy has infested our community with hate crimes being the most highlighted causes of deaths, it is heartbreaking to read and hear about these brutal murders and we want to lessen the tragedy from the memories of the people that passed on. We shine light to queers that were extroverts and colorful, the introverts that enjoyed their own space and the many variations of beings that beamed in rainbow colours. This project is to celebrate you, to know you, to remember you and to treasure your being. A special thank you to GALA Queer Archive for the amazing work of achieving queer beings, this project is a continuation of where you started. Thank you to Global Narrative Hive for connecting activists across the globe and a massive thank you to TQR Management for being pillars of freedom and liberty.
ZAWADI MASHEGO, CO-FOUNDER
Often times, LGBTIQ+ persons are made to justify whether they have existed since the beginning of life. Our existence is trivialized because thanks to colonialism, our histories were erased, co-opted or altered. This memorial wall is our proof of life. There is so much we still can’t do physically because who we are and how we exist is still criminalized, frowned upon, killed and made out to be wrong. But that will not deter us or render us silent. Through this wall, we remember the lives of our queer siblings. The lives they lived which is enough proof that we have always existed.
This wall looks to also honor these lives. Because often times, queer persons are unalived and the memories of how we lived is then marred by pain, torture and discrimination even at death. In this project, we seek to honor the glory of the existence of queer people.
May we never forget, that with every breath we take, that there is the proof of our existence. And that no matter how we die, our colors, our rainbows will continuously shine through all of us.
MARYLIZE BIUBWA, CO-FOUNDER
In this remembrance, we must also acknowledge the unseen and invalidated grief of those of us who loved these souls most intimately; as partners and chosen family. In a country where love between queer partners and chosen family is not just disregarded but criminalized, the loss of our beloved becomes a private torment, a wound that society refuses to recognize. Our grief, as queer partners and family, is a silent echo in a world that denies our love, making the pain of loss even more profound. Our sorrow, often endured in isolation, is a testament to the bravery it takes to love in the face of hate, and to mourn in the face of invisibility. This memorial wall stands as a beacon for us, a place where our grief is seen, where our love is validated, and where our loss is honored.
KATHY GITHUI, PEOPLE AND CULTURE EXPERT