Every day the NYPD's Vandal Squad chases taggers in the five boroughs, but this summer, New Yorkers will be invited to write and draw on the walls of defunct homes on Governor's Island through the fourth edition of the Writing On It All project. The project, say organisers Alexandra Chasin and Zina Goodall, aims to make participants “feel empowered and authorised to write according to their own light.”
The programme started on 4 June with a session led by the Arab-American actress and writer Leila Buck, who encouraged participants to write musings about what it means to be or to become an American. Facilitators such as Edwin Torres, the artist Aisha Cousins and the writer Israel Centeno, among others, are slated to follow.
“Whether the facilitators focus on social and political issues, whether they put out watercolours or index cards, or whether there is music, silence, or humming or shouting – they get the participants writing”, the organisers say. Each session runs at a different venue for two hours, after which the house is opened so that participants and passers-by can reflect on the work.
“Writing is not the exclusive domain of experts—it’s for everyone,” the organisers say. “We believe that the more people that participate in making some culture, the healthier and happier our social collective will be.”