Be:longings Art Installation Honouring Raoul Wallenberg at Churchill Park

Photos by Wendy Schneider (scroll down for album)

Our community had the privilege of gathering at Churchill Park to mark the installation of Be:longings, a powerful public art installation inspired by the legacy of Raoul Wallenberg and the enduring strength of Holocaust survivors in our own Hamilton community.

We are deeply grateful to Madeline Levy, whose leadership and tireless advocacy were instrumental in bringing this project to life. We also want to extend our sincere thanks to the City of Hamilton for their support and collaboration in creating a space that invites reflection, education, and dialogue for generations to come.

This moment was the realization of a vision years in the making. The project itself emerged from a community-driven initiative, rooted in a desire to honour Wallenberg’s legacy not only as a historical figure, but as a living example of moral courage, human rights, and the responsibility to act. The intention was to create an interactive, hopeful and meditative space that invites each visitor to reflect on their own role in confronting injustice and supporting our shared humanity.

Wallenberg himself embodied this responsibility in its most urgent form. In 1944, at the height of the Holocaust in Hungary, when hundreds of thousands of Jews were being deported in a matter of weeks, he chose to step into danger rather than remain safely in Sweden. Through courage, ingenuity, and an unwavering sense of duty, he helped save tens of thousands of lives, demonstrating that one individual can, in fact, change the course of history.

The imagery of the suitcase captures that fragile space between worlds: between home and exile, between identity and displacement. And yet, it also carries another meaning. For those who survived, it became a symbol of resilience, the beginning of rebuilding, of arriving in new lands, and of slowly reclaiming life and dignity. Wallenberg met people in that exact moment, when their lives had been reduced to a suitcase, and helped restore not only their safety, but their future.

The name Be:longings reflects this dual meaning: what we carry, and where we belong. It asks us to consider both the weight of memory and the responsibility of building spaces where people are seen, protected, and valued.

At the installation, hearing from Ernie Mason, a Hamilton resident who was personally rescued by Wallenberg, brought this history into sharp and deeply human focus. His testimony reminded us that these are not distant stories. They are lived experiences that continue to shape families and communities today.

Congratulations to the talented artists Gary Barwin, Tor Lukasik-Foss, and Simon Frank for bringing this vision to life with such depth and meaning.

May this art installation inspire generations of Hamiltonians to be upstanders, stand up against hate, to act with courage and to leave a lasting legacy.