In Spring of 2013, one million bones—made by an international community of artists, activists, and students—will flood our nation’s capital.

One Million Bones is a fundraising art installation designed to recognize the millions of victims killed or displaced by ongoing genocides occurring on our watch.

Our Mission is to increase global awareness of these atrocities while raising the critical funds needed to protect and aid displaced and vulnerable victims.

One Million Bones will represent victims of genocide, creating a visual demand for solutions to this issue. Ignored and therefore permitted, genocide continues today, while widespread awareness of it remains buried. One million people will each create one bone to represent one victim. Installed together, these million bones will flood the National Mall in Washington, D.C., unearthing the memory of these victims while calling citizens to action: mourning yesterday’s casualties, caring for today’s refugees, saving tomorrow’s people.

To raise funds, One Million Bones requests a sponsorship of five dollars for each bone submitted, thus generating five million dollars. All proceeds will be donated to our beneficiary organizations that work to protect and aid displaced and vulnerable victims of genocide. For more information on our beneficiaries and distribution of proceeds, please refer to BENEFICIARIES.

For those who would like to participate in the project but do not see how they will make a bone, a $15 contribution will allow a bone to be manufactured and sponsored for them.  These manufactured bones will be made of biodegradable materials with seeds inside, so that at the end of the installation these bones will distributed to be buried with a foreseeable future of growth.

People of all ages and from all nations are invited to participate in this project. If you are interested in making or sponsoring a bone, please refer to GET INVOLVED.

The importance of a voice: During the Rwandan Genocide, National Security Advisor Anthony Lake stated that if the United States government was to support effective action to stop the genocide, the American public must make it clear that is what they want. He encouraged human-rights advocates to “make more noise”, thus helping to change public opinion. But little noise was made, and the international community stood still while the massacres continued. One Million Bones intends to make noise: one million voices shouting for our government to stop genocide.