By Madeline Bonner, Monuments Toolkit
Living monuments and memorials are designed to engage contemporary society in different ways. For example, living monuments may grow and evolve, travel to reach different audiences, and/or facilitate the gathering of people.
The following are living monuments and memorials that contradict ideas of monuments as static and passive. They prompt us to think about the ways we choose to honor and commemorate those we have lost and how we might continue to do so in the future.
Designed to Grow
AIDS Memorial Quilt – San Francisco, California

Human rights activist and author Cleve Jones began the AIDS Memorial Quilt that was displayed for the first time in 1987 during the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Birthed from grassroots activism, the history of the AIDS Memorial Quilt is an impressive journey. The memorial quilt includes individually sewn panels that honor people who have died from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), the most advanced form of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Over time, the number of panels honoring those who died of AIDS has grown to over 54,000, and people continue to sew and submit additional panels everyday. The Quilt is “the premiere symbol of the AIDS pandemic, a living memorial to a generation lost to AIDS and an important HIV prevention education tool.” The memorial grows and travels as sections are displayed in communities across the nation to increase awareness of the impact of HIV/AIDS and honor lost loved ones.
The AIDS Memorial Quilt lives digitally as well. All 54,000+ quilt panels are viewable at this interactive platform.
The Survivor Tree & 9/11 Memorial Seedling Program – New York City, New York

The Survivor Tree is a callery pear tree that was found with damaged roots and branches at the site of the World Trade Center (Ground Zero) in October 2001. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation removed and rehabilitated the tree before replanting it at the site of the 9/11 Memorial. Today, the pear tree stands as a natural monument and “living reminder of resilience, survival, and rebirth.” The 9/11 Memorial Seedling Program spreads this reminder by distributing seedlings of the Survivor Tree to communities that have experienced large scale tragedies. The seedlings are living memorials, such as the Survivor Tree, that grow through devastating loss and honor those who died while symbolizing hope for those who remember them.
Designed to Move
The Gun Violence Memorial Project – Traveling

The Gun Violence Memorial Project was first exhibited at the Chicago Architecture Biennale in 2019. Four houses of 700 glass bricks form the traveling memorial. According to the Project, the bricks in each house represent the average number of deaths due to gun violence that occur each week in the U.S. Some glass bricks contain the name, date of birth, and date of death of a gun violence victim alongside memorial objects contributed by their loved ones. The Gun Violence Memorial Project invites those who would like to participate to contribute memorial objects at their in-person collection events. The traveling monument creates space for individual memories while also seeking to convey the magnitude of the national issue that is gun violence in America. The memorial grows through the contribution of honorary objects and travels around the country prompting confrontation with the fierce reality of the gun violence epidemic.
Blank Slate Monument – Traveling

The Blank Slate Monument was created by Ghanaian artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo in 2020. According to the artist, he designed the monument to interrupt the problematic narratives perpetuated by Confederate monuments throughout the U.S. that misrepresent the African American experience in America. Akoto-Bamfo described the symbolism of each element of the monument including the blank slate itself, which is a space where personal expressions can be shared. People with smartphones are able to connect to the sculpture’s Wi-Fi network and post a message to the placard being held by the activist mother figure atop the monument. This element connects closely to one of Akoto-Bamfo’s approaches to narrative disruption: “make the monument serve as the very vehicle for nonviolent protest of confederate memorials and spaces which are insensitive to the African American experience and contributions.” The Blank Slate Monument travels to intervene in spaces around the country and changes to reflect the people who surround it. This Southern Poverty Law Center article dives deeper into the monument.
Designed to Gather
Homomonument – Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Homomonument was unveiled in 1987 in Westmarkt, Amsterdam. It is made of three pink granite triangles each at a different height that together form one large triangle. The memorial was designed to be a relatively flat, open space so that activity could occur in and around the monument. The artist, Karin Daan, described the Homomonument as “an open space through which life passes.” Throughout time, the raised triangle platform has been used to address crowds and the steps leading down to the canal-level triangle have been a seat for reflection. The Homomonument is a gathering site for annual commemoration and celebration events as well as to protest acts of violence and discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community that take place around the world.
Diana Memorial Fountain – London, United Kingdom

The Diana Memorial Fountain opened to the public in London’s Hyde Park in 2004. The fountain was designed to follow the natural slope of the land and “radiate energy outwards as well as draw people inwards.” The memorial was created to be inclusive and accessible – a gathering place where visitors are invited to feel at home. Over one million people visit the fountain each year to picnic, splash around in the water, and appreciate the monument to the Princess of Wales.