Iraqi Memorial - Commemorating Civilian Deaths

Iraqimemorial.org is a call to action to artists, designers, architects or other interested creative individuals or collaborators to propose concepts for the creation of memorials to the many thousands of Iraqi civilians killed in the War in Iraq.

Through the website you will find further information regarding this endeavor, including statements “about the project”, the “mission statement” and the “call for proposals”, “links” and “relief organizations” and visit the “open forum” regarding iraqimemorial.org: http://iraqimemorial.blogspot.com/.

Exhibition
All submitted memorial proposals that meet the project guidelines will be featured on the site - accessible through the exhibition portal (visit the “call for proposals” for project guidelines). New project proposals will be uploaded as they are received. There is no “winner” of this call for proposals - the goal for this project is to create a growing database of memorial concepts that is free, open and accessible.

Voting
The public is invited to rate all the proposals through a five star rating system that is accessible from each individual artist’s page in the Exhibition section.

Jurors
An international group of curators and scholars have been invited to serve as juror/reviewers for the project. Each juror will have an updatable top ten favorite list that will be accessible on the site. The process of reviewing proposals will be ongoing. The first deadline for jurors review of proposals is March of 2008, to roughly coincide with the fifth anniversary of the start of the war. Jurors and other invited guests will be taking an active role in moderating and participating in discussions on the “open forum”.

 

Mission Statement
The purpose of this project is to honor and commemorate the deaths of thousands of civilians killed since the commencement of “Operation Iraqi Freedom” on March 19, 2003; to establish an Internet archive as a living memorial that will serve as a repository of memorial concepts; to mobilize an international community of artists to contribute proposals that will represent a collective expression of memory, unity and peace; to encourage the vigilance of contemporary memory in a time of war; to stimulate an understanding of the consequences and costs of “the war on terror”; to support the moral imperative of recognizing the deaths of Iraqi civilians; and to create a context for the initiation of a process of symbolic, creative atonement.

Project Goals

• Create and disseminate an open call for the submission of memorial proposals from the international community of artists and designers.
• Establish a commemorative repository of project proposals on the Internet that is open, accessible and welcoming to a diversity of creative concepts and practices.
• Broadly engage and support works that function according to traditional and expanded considerations of what constitutes a memorial.
• Encourage proposals that range from the personal gesture to the monumental concept, from the local to the global.
• Commence a process of review by internationally recognized jurors who will consider overall concept, design and the standards of traditional and experimental contemporary arts practice towards recognizing excellence.
• Encourage and cultivate public input towards further recognizing proposals through the creation of an open rating system.
• Initiate a process of open dialogue, debate and discussion surrounding the issues of civilian casualties in Iraq, memorials and the role of artists in a time of war.

If you have any inquiries or feedback about the project, the process of submitting your designs, etc., feel free to email project Director Joseph DeLappe:

delappe “@” iraqimemorial.org

Call for Proposals

Proposal Form

JJ is the co-founder of 5ft Creatives and he is now a legal alien in the USA