Remembering those who died from heroin addiction.

H o m e is a gilded bronze flame made of highly polished bronze and housed in a frame made from Irish limestone.The flame will stand in the inner part of the frame in a space that is exactly the size of an ordinary hall door. Leo Higgi n s d e s c ribes his work as evoking “ m e m ories of home where those who are gone are never forgotten and always remembered proudly, in a quiet and dignified way ” . He chose the theme of the flame as “a symbol of hope and light for the future and for those who remain”. H e s ays that when he casts the flame he will reve rt to a traditional custom associated with the casting of church bells in which the bishop threw some coins into the bronze. R e l at i ves will be asked to provide some mementoes, so that the “flame will be inclusive of those being remembered”. The artists in the exhibition were invited to work closely with relat i ves and with community wo r k e rs to deve l o p designs that expressed the s p i rit of the wo r k i n g c l a s s c o m m u n i t y. For many m o n t h s , the artists listened to r e l at i ves to try to unders t a n d the complexity of the probl e m , and to understand how best to use their talent to express “both the unspeakable tragedy of the heroin s c o u r g e , and to find a message of hope”. Until the mid–1990s there was a public misconception t h at heroin was a problem of the poorer classes; families with dru g addicts felt abandoned, m a r gi n a l i s e d , and stigmat i s e d . Speaking with the fa m i l i e s , the artists found they continued to feel the stigma of drug misuse, and for this reason the families did not want individual names on the m e m o ri a l . R a f f e rty says that the community’s i nvo l vement in the memorial project has been positive , a c k n ow l e d ging each p e rs o n ’s right to have and to express their gri e f. He believes that in the future the memorial will speak in stronger t e rm s , as people realise that they do h ave the right to say, “ We did not d e s e rve this. We did not deserve to be abandoned when our children we r e d y i n g ” .