The Thread is a temporary public activation to hold space for grief and connectivity.
Photo by Daniel Jackson for Embassy: Interactive
Photo by Daniel Jackson for Embassy: Interactive
Visitors to the installation in Philadelphia are invited to use the disconnected rotary phone to “call” their lost loved ones. This intimate shelter offers a way to keep the thread of connection and conversation with those that are unreachable.
It is a space for reflection and remembrance, for listening and laughter, for stories and silence, for tears and tenderness, for comfort and catharsis.
Our community is grieving.
Whether because of deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic, gun violence, or the opioid crisis, or absences due to incarceration, illness, or disability, our collective grief needs a place to be witnessed.
We offer The Thread, and the tangible use of the phone, to provide a container for connection to and expression of grief.
“Your absence has gone through me
Like thread through a needle.
Everything I do is stitched with its color.”