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Culture Unbound

 

Volume 1, Article 26, 2009

Title: City of Epitaphs 
Author: Megan Hicks
Affiliation: Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
DOI: 10.3384/cu.2000.1525.09126453
Volume: 1
Article No.: 26
Year: 2009
Available: 2009-12-21
No. of pages: 15
Pages: 453-467
View Article: PdflogoView Article (PDF); References (HTML)
Abstract: The pavement lies like a ledger-stone on a tomb. Buried underneath are the remains of fertile landscapes and the life they once supported. Inscribed on its upper side are epitaphic writings. Whatever their ostensible purpose, memorial plaques and public artworks embedded in the pavement are ultimately expressions of civic bereavement and guilt. The pavement's role as both witness and accomplice to fatality is confirmed by private individuals who publicize their grief with death notices graffitied on the asphalt. To walk the city is to engage in a dialogue about death.
Keywords: Cities, pavement, memorials, public art, shrines, graffiti, Sydney