Kassel
Germany
in front of Kunsthalle Fridericianum, foot of stairs to portal Names and Stones - Hommage since 2 June 1992
unknown
Namen und Steine is a joint project of artist Tom Fecht and the German AIDS Foundation (Deutsche AIDS-Stiftung). It is dedicated to the memory of those who died from AIDS. Cobbles, originally used for paving streets turned into cobble stones of remembrance. The names of decedents were engraved in some of them, but the majority of the stones are in their original state. As ‚Memoire Nomade‘, or nomadic memory, temporary installations of always newly assembled stones were supposed to travel from town to town. Permanent installations developed under the influence of people affected by AIDS.
The first installation, in June 1992, during documenta IX – Hommage – was composed of stones commemorating predominantly artists who had died from AIDS. 250 stones were put into the opened sett paving at the bottom of the steps to Museum Fridericianum in Kassel.
Relatives and friends of decedents wanted to extend the installation with stones commemorating people from Kassel. In collaboration with Aids-Hilfe Kassel and the municipal health department name stones of people who died from AIDS - and a stone for AIDS activist Dominique d‘Souza, deceased in 1992 - were added on July 4, 1992, the local Christopher Street Day.
On September 21, 1992, after documenta IX had closed, 75 name stones were taken from the installation again, a part remained in the new pavement. Every year on World AIDS Day new name stones are added in collaboration with Aids-Hilfe Kassel. On the occasion of documenta X 1997 the installation reached the number of 658 stones, in four rows.
Since 1992 memorial installations with more than 2.300 name stones were installed in 26 cities in Germany and the rest of Europe. Although the project ended in the year 2000, name stones can still be incorporated at existing installations.

Deutsche Aids-Stiftung, AIDS-Hilfe Kassel e.V.