| Description |
Anniversary—an act of memory
solo, collective and multi-lingual recitations from memory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
a performance series in 60 Acts
Monica Ross and Co-Recitors 2008-2013
Anniversary-an act of memory is a performance series in 60 acts of solo, collective and multi-lingual recitations from memory of the entire Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by Monica Ross and Co-Recitors embodying a struggle for personal and public memory and the attainment of human rights as a continual process of individual and collective negotiation and re-iteration. Ross first challenged herself to memorise and publicly recite the Declaration as a response to the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by police in London in July 2005 in the solo performance rights repeated—an act of memory at Beaconsfield, London 2005.
Act 1 of the Anniversary—an act of memory series was a solo recitation in Ours By Right an Equal Opportunities Commission event celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Declaration held during the exhibition Taking Liberties: the struggle for Britain’s Rights and Freedoms, British Library, London 07.12.2008.
The aim has been to realise 60 recitations in different communities and contexts. Since 2008 Acts have taken place in Madrid, Berlin and Galway and across the UK in settings such as the House of Commons, Southwark Cathedral, Art Festivals, Galleries, Theatres, Libraries, Community Fairs, Campaigns and Conferences. The recitations include stand alone works and collaborations such as with Sheffield Socialist Choir, Mikhail Karikis’s opera and film Xenon, Suzanne Treister’s A World’s Fair and an additional Act of Memory with Brighton Festival Choir celebrating Aung San Suu Kyi as Guest Director at the launch of Brighton Festival 2011. The recitations have been large and small, public and private and have marked anniversaries such as International Womens’ Day, Martin Luther King Day, International Human Rights Day, Holocaust Memorial Day and Act 42 a live streamed solo recitation on May Day 2012 from Lighthouse, Brighton.
Anniversary—an act of memory will reach Act 60 at the 23rd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, in collaboration with Architects of Air. By June 2013 almost 1000 Co-Recitors of all ages and backgrounds will have memorised and publicly recited articles of significance to them in 50+ languages, including endangered and indigenous languages and British and other Sign Languages.
Act 36 a recitation with Wunderbar Festival 2011, presented at BALTIC, Gateshead, was recited primarily in British Sign Language (BSL). In April 2013 a landmark translation of the UDHR in BSL, produced by the Newcastle & Bristol based company Signworld as their contribution to the series, became the first Signed translation of the UDHR to be included on the United Nation’s language database.
Between May 2011-2013 recitations in the UK have been produced by Michelle Hirschhorn as Anniversary—an act of memory UK Tour 2011-2013 with the support of public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
More information is available here: http://www.actsofmemory.net/ |