Memory March Shoe Memorial and Vigil

Memory March Shoe Memorial and vigil

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Abbotsford, BC

Although the numbers vary, the average number of women and girls murdered in Canada each year is around 200. Each death is an inexcusable crime, and the death toll destroys the fabric of our society. Art Matter’s Society draws attention to the plight of women and girls by gathering their names and asking individuals to remember, grieve, and work for change.  On Sunday, March 25^th, a Shoe Memorial will be held at the Civic Plaza (or Thunderbird Plaza, located behind the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium, next to the Reach Art Gallery & Museum), Abbotsford.  For the last five years Art Matter’s Society has organized the Memory March, a silent walk and ceremony in remembrance of murdered and missing women in Canada.  This year the Shoe Memorial will honour BC women who have been killed with a symbolic collection of women's shoes. The shoes will later be donated to The Warm Zone in Abbotsford and the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre in Vancouver.

At 1 PM in the circle of the Shoe Memorial, participants will honour the women and girls we have lost to violence. Guest speaker Gladys Radek from walk4justice will open the ceremony and vigil. If you would like to donate a new or slightly used pair of like-new shoes please bring them along.

There will be a display of the names of over 4,000 women and children who have been murdered. Mary Billy began The Femicide List after the December 6th 1989 Montreal Massacre. The list contained 1,865 names of women and children murdered across Canada.  Gwynne Hunt assumed responsibility for the list in 2005 and has sadly added over 2,000 more names as the death toll rises.

The Memory March Shoe Memorial  is sponsored by Art Matters Society, a charitable organization producing live, unjuried, social and political theatre. One of the Society’s mandates is to produce shows that help stop violence and raise awareness.

This year Art Matter’s will produce The Vagina Monologues (TVM) on Saturday, March 24^th to raise money for future shoe memorials, the memory march, walk4 justice and the Warm Zone. 10% of proceeds go to the women and girls of Haiti.

This is the 7^th annual march. Please come out and support us. Everyone's contribution counts. If you are coming with a group, please let us know how many people you will be bringing. Support us by buying tickets to the Vagina Monologues (tickets $20). To rent a table at TVM, the cost is $50 and includes a ticket to the show and credit in the program for being a sponsor.

For more information, please contact:

Gwynne Hunt: Phone: 604-859-2407

gwynne1@telus.net

www.ragmag.net

http://penny-a-line.blogspot.com/

http://gwynnehunt.wordpress.com/