Naming The Lost: Reverberations of Grief

We are honored to be part of 20 organizations across New York City that are participating in Naming the Lost, a COVID memorial project dedicated to the experiences and losses New Yorkers have faced since the start of the pandemic.

In April 2023, we invited our community members to gather in our studio and reflect on the impact of the pandemic, the failures of systems that exacerbated profound loss, and the lack of collective mourning over the past three years. Participants brought in small items that held meaningful memories or represented something they want to let go of. Together, we incorporated these found objects and personal artifacts into a community-created wind chime that mixes sound and sculpture to inspire space for remembrance and grieving.

“The pandemic has exacerbated challenges that many within The W.O.W. Project and Chinatown have been facing for decades, from gentrification and displacement of long-term working class residents to racist and misogynistic violence against Asian women, trans, and non-binary people. Because our work is rooted in the healing that happens when we’re in community, the physical act of gathering and creating a Naming the Lost memorial together has helped transform the grief and rage that so many of us have been holding onto for the past three years."

The wind chime is hung on the Greenwood Cemetery 5th Ave entrance for the month of May and was activated alongside the other memorials on May 11th in a dedication ceremony at the cemetery. The project will be brought back to Chinatown in June, where it will be activated during W.O.W.'s 7 year anniversary finale celebration on June 23rd.