Through an exciting partnership with Glasgow Museums, Invisible (Glasgow) is taking part in To Absent Friends: Scotland’s people’s festival of storytelling and remembrance, which takes place across the country from 1 – 7 November each year. It gives people a chance to remember, to tell stories, to celebrate and to reminisce about people we love who have died.
47 pairs of shoes have been placed on the concert hall steps from11am-1pm: one for each person who died street homeless in the city last year in Glasgow alone.
Many of these people are “unknown” or “nameless” in the official stats and we all felt it was important for them to be remembered.
At 1pm the shoes were moved to locations across the city centre. Each pair of shoes has a laminate attached, with the address of a landing page, giving more info on what it’s about. You can also access this page here.
If you are in Glasgow this week and see a pair of the shoes feel free to photograph them and tweet using the hashtags:
#ToAbsentFriends #HomelessOM #OMGLasgow #InvisibleCities #TheGlasgow47
So far, the reaction from the public, has been a mixture of people being angry, upset and shocked by this number.
” The sentiment that stood out was ‘this shouldn’t be happening’. I spoke to people who had lost loved ones in recent years and needed a good chat. I think this was a great way to allow people to speak and connect.
It’s been a day of hard but hopeful discussion, a real eye opener for folks and at a time when people, of all walks of life need real human connection.”
Debbie, volunteering for the day with Invisible (Glasgow) says:
” The sentiment that stood out was ‘this shouldn’t be happening’. I spoke to people who had lost loved ones in recent years and needed a good chat. I think this was a great way to allow people to speak and connect. It’s been a day of hard but hopeful discussion, a real eye opener for folks and at a time when people, of all walks of life need real human connection.”
