20th Medicine Wheel Installation
Cyclorama, Boston Center for the Arts
Thursday, December 1st, 2011, 24-hour vigil
Medicine Wheel is an epic work of art created by Michael Dowling, Artistic Director of Medicine Wheel Productions. Produced annually since 1992 in conjunction with World AIDS Day (also known as A Day Without Art), “Medicine Wheel,” a 24-hour vigil with a major sculptural art installation, brings people from every walk of life and every social class together to commemorate the tragedy of the AIDS epidemic, or any loss, in their own communities and worldwide. The primary visual component is the wheel itself: thirty-six pedestals and portable shrines arranged in a circle.
Dowling developed Medicine Wheel to be a part of A Day Without Art, the visual arts community’s annual response to the AIDS crisis that flowered in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s in New York City and other artistic centers. While most activities associated with A Day Without Art no longer take place, Medicine Wheel has grown in importance as Boston’s largest annual observation of World AIDS Day. Each year the installation is based around a different element: fire, water, earth or air. This 20th incarnation of the Medicine Wheel is a water year and will focus on the power of art to heal, nurture, and transform.
The Medicine Wheel Vigil is true public art; the community is involved as participants and co-creators. This year, youth from around the city, hosted by the young people at Medicine Wheel, are creating a cultural happening from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Thursday, December 1st. A youth forum on HIV/AIDS will follow this hour from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm. We anticipate more than 200 of Boston’s young people to participate.
Additionally, an offering of song, poetry, and dance will mark every hour of the vigil, and various rituals rooted in water. Contributing artists include: Cellist Sam Ou, the Nebula String Quartet, Until Tomorrow Productions, Glass Ensemble, Brandeis University Dance Troupe, dancers Deanna Pellechia and Ingrid Schatz, and many more. A range of spiritual and faith traditions will also be represented in Medicine Wheel’s vigil, including the Pagan community (led by Bruce Baldwin), Jewish, Christian, Native American, and others. Click here for a full schedule.
As in years past, all are invited to leave personal mementos such as jewelry, letters, poems, photos and other items in Medicine Wheel. Objects left are placed within the Wheel’s pedestals at the conclusion of the vigil, joining those left in previous years.
Medicine Wheel will be open to the public Monday, November 28 through Wednesday, November 30, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and for the full 24-hours on Thursday, December 1.
For more information please contact Michael Dowling at mdowling@mwproductions.org or 617.268.6700 x11.
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