Acts of Memory

Anniversary — an act of memory

solo, collective and multi-lingual recitations, from memory, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Monica Ross and Co-Recitors

In response to the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by Police in London on 22 July 2005, the artist Monica Ross decided to try and learn the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by heart and attempted to publicly recite the Declaration, from memory, in the performance rightsrepeated — an act of memory at Beaconsfield, London in November 2005.

The Anniversary — an act of memory series of recitations began with a solo recitation by Ross, marking the 6oth anniversary of the Declaration, during the British Library exhibition Taking Liberties: The Struggle for Britains Freedom and Rights on 7th December 2008. The intention of the Anniversary — an act of memory series is to carry out 60 solo, collective and multi- lingual recitations of the Declaration, from memory, with individuals and communities in tandem with cultural and social events and in alliance with organisations, campaigns and anniversaries whose intentions and significance resonate with those of the Declaration.

To date, 22 solo, collective and multi-lingual recitations have been produced in collaboration with individuals, independent groups, cultural and educational organisations. 173 co-recitors of all ages have memorised and recited one or more of the 30 Articles in 26 languages, including: Arabic, Armenian, British Sign Language, Catalan, English, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Irish, Italian, Macedonian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Turkish and Welsh.

visit: http://www.actsofmemory.net/