NAMING THE LOST Memorials

In May 2020, a group of activists, artists, and folklorists launched NAMING THE LOST Memorials (NTLM) as a grassroots commemoration project. NTLM established participatory memorial sites in all five boroughs of New York City, where bereaved people gathered to create tributes to loved ones using colored paper, markers, face masks, and other ad-hoc materials. To ensure the project’s accessibility in hard-hit communities, NTLM collaborated with forty local groups, including Mixteca Mexican Community Organization, La Troupe Makandal, Hebrew Tabernacle, JouvayFest Collective, and Flushing Town Hall.

NTLM aims to combat the helplessness and isolation of COVID grief. “There has been no national day of mourning set aside for the Covid dead,” said Kay Turner, one of the group’s organizers. “So many people died alone, and burials and rituals have been deferred. While heads of state do not perform their solemn duties to comfort the afflicted and mourn the dead, the rest of us rise to confront this tragedy.” NTLM plans to continue its work through at least 2025. The memorial already includes includes tens of thousands of tributes. Given the immense scope of this project, Commemorating COVID features just one of NTLM’s many panels, set against the painted backdrop of a cast-iron fence.