In Memorabilia, Cynthia Hopkins wove detritus collected from her performance pieces into several double-sided, large-scale “quilts” made in collaboration with FWM. These materials ranged from hundreds of pages of handwritten notes—scribbled during the process of devising songs, stories, characters, and costumes—to remnants of her costumes and props. Each piece allowed Hopkins to communicate a story about a specific performance in a fragmented, folkloric form through arranged materials, embroidered lyrics, and hand-drawn diagrams. A new sound piece permeated the installation, to create a cohesive narrative.
As evinced by the title, Hopkins intended for Memorabilia to serve the purpose memorials are designed to serve. Memorials celebrate, and put to rest, what is no longer living, so that those mourning their loss can move on. At the same time, memorials enrich the present with a remembrance of things past so that those who may not be familiar with what has been lost may potentially learn from it, or be curious about it, or shed a tear.
