[UPDATE]: Mayor Marty Walsh released the following statement about the Dear Boston exhibit:
“Dear Boston represents our strength and solidarity not only as a city, but also as a community that supports one another through even the most difficult of times,” said Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh. “I encourage people – residents and visitors alike – to visit the exhibition, experience the resilience of the people of Boston, and view the messages of hope and healing.”
After the infamous Boston Marathon bombing, Bostonians and people from all corners of the commonwealth, the country and the world descended upon ground zero on Boylston Street to leave mementos and memorabilia in remembrance of the victims. Since archived by the city, the tokens will be put on display in a new exhibit hosted by the Boston Public Library.
Aptly dubbed “Dear Boston: Messages from the Marathon Memorial,” the exhibit will be put on by the BPL beginning April 7 and lasting through May 11, according to the Associated Press via the Boston Globe.
The presentation will feature a bevy of relics, such as notes from “Israel, South Korea, Turkey and Venezuela” as well as one from a mother of Newtown, Connecticut’s Sandy Hook, continues the AP. It will also show marathon bibs, running shoes, stuffed animals and various signs.
Independent curator Rainey Tisdale will also borrow items scanned from Northeastern University’s online catalog Our Marathon. NU’s digital exhibit features photos, videos and stories that were able to be scanned and uploaded to the internet.
The main attraction, notes the AP further, will be four white crosses that represent the lives of those taken due to the Marathon and its aftermath. Martin Richard, 8, Lu Lingzi, 23 and Krystle Campbell, 29, were all killed due to the dual pressure cooker combustions that also maimed 264 others. MIT police officer Sean Collier was shot while sitting in his patrol car by the alleged bombers just days after the explosions tore through the Back Bay.
BostInno reached out directly to the Boston Public Library for further information about the exhibit but nobody was immediately available to comment.
