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NYC 2002
Our NYC 2002 journey is complete, and the work has already
begun on future pilgrimages to accomplish similar work. When we arrived back
at the studio in Oakland, there was a package
of 300 cranes, sent to us from a young New Yorker we met at the Peaceful
Tomorrows vigil where we assisted in origami clinics. It felt like that thing
salmon do when they swim upstream to spawn new life. And so, we are
determined to continue, returning to NYC for Thanksgiving week, and again on 9/11/03 to distribute cranes and deliver messages of
peace and hope.
Originally conceived as a project that
strove to embrace a representation of the WTC twin towers with 6 million
peace cranes, we metamorphosised and grew to change our focus to embrace
people instead of symbols. Additionally, we fell quite short of that first
goal, contributing some 250,000 peace cranes to New York memorials, including our own.
Boxes bundled with several thousand
cranes were sent ahead to companies, who suffered large losses of life on
9/11, including: Cantor Fitzgerald; Marsh&McLennan; and Aon. (Cantor
Fitzgerald actually incorporated their cranes into their 9/11 memorial
service.) This was done to satisfy an expressed desire of some participants
to hand their cranes directly to victims’ families. Recognizing that
there were affected people beyond the scope of this definition the second
part of our effort involved distributing the cranes to anyone who wanted one on
the streets and in parks about NYC. During this process a dozen or so people
touched us so profoundly that we quite spontaneously gave them 1,000 cranes.
Many carried handfuls back to share with co-workers, awhile many more merely
took a crane or two. All of the cranes—whether crumpled and feeble or
sharp and crisp—were lovingly given and received.
1 Peace Vigil 9/10
We began our anniversary memorial process of distributing cranes
by lending instruction on September 10 through participating in the
PeacefulTomorrows vigil at Washington Square Park. The vigil began at 4pm and was to run until the next morning, but was shut-down
by police just after midnight. In this picture, the
Imagine mosaic crane tapestry starts to lend itself to a spontaneous memorial
by passersby. People brought pictures, notes, candles, lanterns, cranes,
flowers, and prayers. At midnight we were kindly asked
to remove it.
2 Vigil 9/10
WTC crane tapestry---formerly called the Yamasaki
tapestry---hanging from a lamppost at Washington Square. This banner
identified the location of the crane folding and lantern making tables,
provided by Volunteers de New York; they are an
organization peopled primarily by Japanese New Yorkers who enact projects
reflecting good samaritanism. They greeted us with warmth, and we were
honored to be invited to participate with them at this event and to learn
more about Japanese culture and spirituality.
3 Trinity Church 9/11
Southeast fence of the Trinity Church cemetery, just to the
right of the main entrance. Here we hung thousands of cranes (including some
from Bow H.S. and the Buddhist Sunday School of Alameda), and set-up to
distribute cranes to passersby.
4 Trinity Cemetery
People crowded about the Trinity entrance to photograph the
cranes and talk with participants about the project, and the day.
5 Participants
WTC Healing Project participant Allen Austin---an art teacher
from Texas---holds a basket full
of cranes and wore a WTCHP tag which identified his actions as “In
Memoriam”. We all discovered different ways to connect with people, and
all day long Allen could be heard saying “this is a gift for you”
and “this is a gift of Peace for you”. Many people passed wearing
the orchid leis which identified family members of victims, and would be
hanging their heads or weeping or clutching each other very tightly as they
passed to go into the church. Some of the most touching moments of the day
came when these people would exit the church, look to see Allen smile and
express himself, and reach out for a crane, from him or another of the six
participants. It was elegant, emotionally difficult, transcendental,
rewarding and challenging to maintain respectful distance from some and
literally reach out and hug others, and yet we all felt that it was the right
place to be, and the right thing to do on that day. Every single bird,
whether crumpled and feeble or sharp and crisp, was lovingly presented and
received. This process was repeated for several days in various locations
around Manhattan.
6 Interaction
Allen shows a recipient how to expand the crane to its full
form.
7 September 12: the day
after
We added several thousand cranes to this memorial outside a
firehouse where candles were burning to honor their captain who died on 9/11.
8 Firehouse shrine
Inside the building we presented more cranes for a shrine housed
in a corner there. These cranes were from Castro Valley in California.
9 September 13
Walking in Greenwich Village after a full day of
crane giving in Central Park, we passed many storefronts with
memorials in them. This one had the number “9” set in roses, a
scale model of the WTC towers, an actual piece of WTC debris, a fireman
helmet, a police cap, white stars for each civilian death, red stars for firemen,
and blue stars for policemen. This window was at once both extraordinary and
typical of the various physical displays honoring and remembering 9/11 in
memoriam.
 P e a c e
& L o v e
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