Imagine you are arriving at Small Memorial, a community celebration to honour and say goodbye to a house which is slated for demolition. It is a cool evening in the end of March. The sun is just beginning to set, casting golden light over the blooming cherry trees that line the street. When you arrive you see that the house is a little run down but still charming, with faded white and pale blue siding, a peaked roof, and well worn steps leading up to the front door. There are people chatting and digging up plants in the overgrown front yard, and the sound of a piano can be heard from the open front window,
Click each circle below to continue the experience.
You go upstairs into the attic. There is no furniture and the walls are all white, except for one oddly yellow one. The floor is covered in drop clothes and there is paint and brushes for you to use. You can paint whatever you want on the walls! This room seems to be popular with kids, but people of all ages are painting pictures and messages.
In the living room there is a fireplace which has been transformed into an altar to honour home and belonging. There are big paper flowers in bright colours, strings of lights and garlands, bouquets of fresh flowers and herbs from the garden, and many, many candles. Some of the candles are inside lanterns which have been decorated by hand with colourful tissue paper, some are in clear glass cups. You are invited to light a candle to honour and say goodbye to the house. There is also a musician playing the piano. Part way through the evening, everyone gathers in the living room to be welcomed and to hear a special song. It sounds like this:
In the kitchen there is a big round table covered with a faded floral tablecloth. You can help yourself to snacks and tea. The cake is made with raspberries from last summer’s front yard harvest, which have been kept in the freezer and then baked up just for this special night. People are standing around sipping tea and chatting. You might see someone you know, or a stranger might say hello to you. If you feel like being quiet, that’s okay too.
Off the kitchen is the door to the basement. You go down the steps and descend into a dark and creepy space. The ceilings are uncomfortably low and the floor is not clean. There are boxes and junk tucked into corners. You follow a sign pointing you into a larger room, where there are many drawings of houses suspended from the ceiling. As you walk between them, you realize that these are all houses in Vancouver which are also slated for demolition. In the dimly lit, gritty basement, they are floating like a cloud of small ghosts. This is what they look like:
In the yard raspberry plants are being dug up and repotted or clipped for propagation. There is potting soil and plastic pots so you can take a plant home with you. This is intended to salvage some of the plants from the yard and give them new life in the larger community. You clip a raspberry stalk, and you are also given a zine with information about how to grow it at home. This is what the zine looks like:
