July, 2005

When the events of September 11, 2001 unfolded, engulfing my home area in chaos, fear and grief, I was thousands of miles away, surrounded by people who did not speak my language, and understood little of what I was feeling.  As days passed to weeks and weeks turned into months, I felt as though a large and fundamental societal experience was transpiring without me.  Little did I realize that my own journey would be stitched into the brilliant and tragic tapestry that was weaving itself around that terrible day and its aftermath.

Now, almost three years after a small group of us began developing the Memoria Project tribute, I am still incredulous about our accomplishments and the sheer number of people who have participated in its creation.  Working on this memorial has been a humbling struggle which has, by turns, brought elation and exhaustion to me and the many other persons involved in its realization.  It is a journey that has actually transcended the original circumstances under which we formed to create it, becoming a life force of its own which continues to reinvent itself, presenting new challenges and touching new people.

Lest anyone focus excessively on the physicality of the memorial, its monumental scale and artistry, it is helpful to recall that ours and other efforts to uplift the human spirit are not centered in material accomplishment but are instead rooted in the capacity to engage and inspire people.  The Memoria Project was always about process, less the stones we are fashioning, which will return to earth in time like every good thing under the sun.  It is not what we create but the spirit with which we create that has the potential of immortality, contained and carried in the vessel of humanity throughout the ages.  What will be our legacy to future generations?  How do we react to hatred, violence, and those darker aspects of human existence which have no logical explanation? 

The Memoria Project’s answer – for me, the only answer – is to visit the other end of humanity’s spectrum to discover those inexplicable virtues which represent our very best: mysteries such as love and sacrifice, passion and compassion, the creative spirit which separates us from all organic life on this planet.  We can turn our attention from despairing of humanity’s cruelty to celebrating our kindness, and embracing those values which might possibly redeem us in the wake of horrific events such as the attacks on 9/11/01.

Stephen Shaheen
President, Artist
The Memoria Project, Inc.