One Million Bones - Comes to D.C.
/Over the last 3 years, students and organizations from around the world have been creating handcrafted bones with the intention to bring attention to genocide going on in countries such as Sudan, South Sudan, Burma, Somalia, and Syria. Each of the 1,000,000 bones represented a call to action, a story, and a voice. The national mall was covered with these bones for three days this week to honor victims and survivors of these mass atrocities.
A few weeks ago, while visiting an art gallery in Old Town Alexandria, I stumbled across a small sampling of the One Million Bones Project. Then, on Saturday morning I woke up to news that the day had finally come where all of the bones would be laid out for anyone to see. The family and I headed into town and arrived just as the sun was setting on the first of 3 nights for this exhibit.
This was the third and largest installation of the bones. 50,000 bones were on display back in August 2011 in Albuquerque which was then followed by another 50,000 bones on display in New Orleans back in 2012. This week was by far, the largest display to date. If you look closely, you will notice biodegradable bones scattered amongst the plaster ones. Each of these biodegradable ones were from supporters who made a $5.00 donation to place them on the mall this week. Looking forward to seeing what further projects this organization creates in the future. Using art is such a great way to bring attention to a social justice issue.