Upright Men

Collective Project of Public Mural Art on the Places of Memory of the Tutsi Genocide in Rwanda

PRESENTATION

The artistic and commemorative project "Upright Men" is part of a long reflection by the artist Bruce Clarke. This project comes from a request from the CNLG (National Commission for the Fight against Genocide) to produce work-related art forms of memory to be presented during the commemorative ceremonies of the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994. This project proposes the creation of a strong visual art work to mark the sites of massacres in Rwanda.
The principle is to represent in painted form, men women, and children on the outside of buildings, places of memory, and other sites of the 1994 massacres. The figures will be larger than life – often 15 to 20 feet high, silhouettes sketched but with a strong affirmed presence. They will be symbols of the dignity of human beings who went through the barbarous genocide. Victims or survivors, these upright men stand with dignity, testimonials to the painful history. The intention is to give a presence to the victims, restoring their individuality, reaffirming their status in the human community. The painted figures, every one different, will be emblems of the nobility of the men women and children engulfed by the violence, but who nevertheless, are still, from a spiritual point of view, upright and dignified. The sites of massacres themself will be marked by the symbolic presence so that no one can forget.
These "Upright Men" will be emblematic images that could be painted in various sites throughout the world in the spring of 2014, for the ceremonies of the 20th commemoration of the genocide. The project has two distinct objectives and its realization two aspects. The first objective is to provide a strong and beautiful image to the people of Rwanda to mark the various massacre sites so that the history of these places is not forgotten, and to assert that the Rwandan people are still standing and dignified despite what they went through. More information : http://www.bruce-clarke.com/pages/les-hommes-debout