In America: Remember.Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty
A powerful new art installation is commemorating the staggering number of people who have died from COVID-19 in the United States.
As of Friday, at least 670,034 people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S.,according to Johns Hopkins University. To symbolize the loss, over 600,000 flags have been placed on the National Mall for artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg’sIn America: Remember.
In addition to providing a visual representation of the lives lost to the virus, the flags will also hold personalized messages from loved ones — which can be left in person oronlinethrough a website for the installation.
“So many of these deaths happened in isolation without acknowledgment,“Firstenberg, 62, toldNPR. “When I had an opportunity to bring it to the National Mall, even though it’s an immensely greater task, there was no hesitation. I knew I needed to do it.”
In America: Remember.MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty
“That really disturbed me,” Firstenberg told NPR. “I just felt as though someone had to do something to make a statement that with all these people dying, we had to value each of these lives as well.”
Before the exhibit officially opened to the public on Thursday, one family member reflected on how moving it was to see their father being honored.
“One of those flags represents my father who died from#Covid11 months ago. I wasn’t expecting to be so emotional seeing this but here I am, in tears,“read a social media postshared on the National Mall’s account. “Please, never, ever forget them.”
In America: Rememberwill be on display from Sept. 17 to Oct. 3.
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source: people.com
