Memorial to the Unnamed { Background

The location for the installation I am planning for Homotopia has been confirmed I have gained permission from the correct sources and will be installing the pansies in time for the launch of Homotopia 2007. The 2000 pansies will be placed in St Johns Gardens in central Liverpool. The installation marks the location of a what is widely believed to be a homophobically motivated murder. The recent Stormbreak Report acknowledges the reality of homophobia in Liverpool and the tendency we have not to report verbal homophobia to the police. Stormbreak confirms that generally the community chooses not to take this crime seriously enough to report it and see verbal abuse as just a reality of gay life. The police do not corroborate this and are keen for it to be reported to them so they can allocate the correct resources to addressing this problem and the insidious effect it can have on LGBT people.

The location of The Pansy Project installation is of great significance to Liverpool the park is filled with memorial sculptures, plaques and statues that permanently mark the loss of life in world wars. For me the temporary nature of the pansy installation will contrast well with the more permanent memorials placed throughout the park. During the festival I will be maintaining the pansies in their location and will be distributing pansies to the public so they can participate in making a symbolic planting themselves whether it be in a window box or lawn border each pansy will continue to remind each recipient that as a culture we do not need to accept verbal and physical aggression from a small minority of a heterosexual majority. If you live in Liverpool and would like to plant a pansy to mark your own experience of abuse then e-mail: thepansyproject@aol.com