Eulogy
Eulogy is the installation of wooden stocks in front of the Halifax Memorial Library, which is located near the unmarked burial ground for the victims of Bridewell, an C18th Poorhouse in Halifax. Information on the history of the Poorhouse, stocks, and scaffolding will be provided through QR printed web links on a postcard. Members of the public will be encouraged to take selfies in the stocks and outline their bodies on the pavement spaces near the Library in tribute to the victims of colonial life.
In the early nineteenth century, Halifax was under colonial rule. Citizens charged with various criminal infractions were punished severely by today’s standards and sentenced to time in the Poorhouse (Bridewell) where living conditions were challenging. Punishments included the stocks, pillory, flogging, branding, cutting off the ears, and hanging. Those without means who died while in custody were buried without tribute near the Bridewell, located adjacent to the old Halifax Memorial library.
Stocks will be built and placed on the site of the old Halifax Memorial Library to represent the aspects of colonial rule and punishment in Halifax and impart a sense of confinement indicative of the omnipresent scaffolding surrounding the current widespread redevelopment of urban historical spaces. The stocks will also act as a prompt for educational scaffolding to facilitate and promote increased knowledge of the location and history of heritage buildings. Burial information and sidewalk chalk will be made available for the public to leave ephemeral tributes to the former inhabitants of the Bridewell near the Halifax Memorial Library on Spring Garden Road, many of whom are buried on the site. A post card with QR access to relevant websites will be freely available to the public.
