Memorial RFQ Page
An Update from the H&LS Memorial Project Co-Chairs
Engaging Community Voice: H&LS Memorial Project
In alignment with the recommendations from the Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery Report, we released a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) in December 2023, calling on artists and creators to submit their expressions of interest for the opportunity to design Harvard’s Legacy of Slavery memorial. To date, we have received over 100 submissions spanning four continents, which is a testament to the importance of this reparative work. After much discussion with various stakeholders – including interested artists, architects and other creators – we have made the decision to accept RFQ applications on a rolling basis to allow time to further engage with community partners and understand their priorities and considerations. We will update the community by May 31 with information on the final submission date for the RFQ. Harvard remains steadfastly committed to the active pursuit of long-lasting repair. In this moment, we are reminded of the African Proverb – “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Thank you for your patience with this process.
Dan Byers, co-chair, the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Memorial Project, and the John R. and Barbara Robinson Family Director of the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts
Tracy K. Smith, co-chair, the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Memorial Project, and professor of English and African and African American Studies and the Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Professor at Harvard Radcliffe Institute
About the Request for Qualifications (RFQ)
The Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery (H&LS) Memorial Project Committee invites artists, architects, designers, multi-disciplinary teams, and other creators to express their interest in conceiving a site or sites on Harvard’s Cambridge campus for commemoration and reflection, as well as for listening to and living with the University’s legacy of slavery. We seek expressions of interest from those with investments of thought and practice in memorialization, ritual, community-building, history, and questions about the future. In particular, we are interested in creative visions that activate and make visible complex dynamics, such as: permanence and vitality; honor and rebuke; ecology and the built environment; institutional interest and the common good. We welcome submissions from individuals, collaboratives, and teams rooted in traditional or non-traditional memorial practices at any stage of their career.
The anticipated timeline for completion of the memorial is summer 2027. Upon review of all submissions, the Memorial Project committee will invite a small group of finalists to visit Harvard, meet with community members, and submit formal proposals to be considered for the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Memorial. The University has provisionally budgeted approximately $4M for this project inclusive of artist fees, materials, fabrication, and construction costs. Additional funds from the Legacy of Slavery endowment may be available for short and long-term planning, programming, and engagement.
Details
Questions?
An interview with Tracy K. Smith and Dan Byers, the Harvard & Legacy of Slavery Memorial Committee co-chairs, is available from the Harvard Gazette. Email LegacyofSlavery_Memorial@harvard.edu with questions about this opportunity or the project; for technical assistance with the SM Apply site, contact support@smapply.io.