How it works:
You are invited to send in an anonymous voice message about whatever loss you are grieving over WhatsApp to 083-028-5415. These messages can be as long or as short as you wish. The “Sorry for Our Troubles” team will listen to these messages and process them through soundwave software, creating an individual image that is unique to each sound recording. We will also use words or phrases from the message with each image. All images can be viewed on our website and the public can leave messages of condolence, solidarity and connection in the “Thoughts” section. We hope that this project will be a virtual way of saying that our individual troubles are seen, honoured, shared, and held with kindness.
About ‘Sorry For Our Troubles’
A common expression of sympathy in Irish society is “I’m sorry for YOUR trouble.” While this phrase is traditional and comforting for many people, it separates out the griever as the person who alone possesses the “trouble”. Through the “SORRY FOR OUR TROUBLES” project, we hope to emphasize the collective sorrow, compassion and empathy that binds us all in our grief.
COVID 19 has shown us that there needs to be an opportunity for collective expressions of grief. From bereaved families who could not hold traditional funerals, to the dying who have come to the closing weeks of their lives deprived of the physical presence and closeness of loved ones, to the grieving who may feel they cannot fully express their individual sadness because of the general grief we are encountering in our communities – there is so much grief to let out, and yet seemingly no place to do so.
This project hopes to provide a place to openly see our grief through art created from the voice of the griever. Expressions of grief, rather than being ugly or something to turn our faces from, can be transformed into images that communicate beauty, colour and meaning for the griever and the community that surrounds her and shares her trouble.
Jennifer Moran Stritch, Jantien Schoenmakers & David O’Neill
Thank you to:
A massive thank you to Elive Internet Business Solutions for sponsoring the website.
