Requiem Response

This article helped to deliver a lot of insight into the creative process of building a memorial, more specifically, the creative process of building a representation of a truly emotional, tragic time for a group of people. One aspect of the article that surprised me a lot was the discussion as to who the judges of the competition should be and who should be given the right to decide the final design. I can understand why an architect with a background in memorials would be asked to contribute to the judging process when it is clear he has a lot of relevant technical skills and experiences that could be helpful in the final decision and logistics. What I did find surprising, however, was how opposed many people were to the victims families having a meaningful, weighted contribution to the memorial as well. In my opinion, I would think it would be near impossible to create a meaningful, composed memorial without contributory factors from both the professional as well as emotional connected sides of the spectrum. It is from the families, survivors, and others involved that can deliver the raw emotion and pain that is meant to be remembered and represented through a memorial of this degree. What the families can contribute is the appreciation of the sheer loss and tragedy presented in a situation like this, one that could easily be misrepresented by an outside perspective. This is not to say in a such a large project as building a memorial there should not be professional oversight and direction, but I do appreciate the families being given a large role in the creative process. It is these families who will continue to mourn for the rest of their lives, and also these families in particular who can find solace in a place for remembrance.

The two images I submitted were of the Tsunami Memorial sculpture at Phuket Kamala.