Memory Remains: Exhibit Explores 9/11 Artifacts of Hangar 17

"Memory Remains: 9/11 Artifacts at Hangar 17," the large-scale projection installation by Francesc Torres, has opened in Madrid at CentroCentro, a new cultural center in the heart of the city.  The opening on Thursday marks the fourth for the Torres exhibition that was commissioned by the National September 11 Memorial Museum(9/11 Memorial Museum), following the International Center of Photography in New York, the Imperial War Museum in London and the Center for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona. 

In Madrid, large images of objects taken from the World Trade Center site after the 2001 attacks and stored at JFK Airport's Hangar 17, are projected on six screens, about 8 feet by 14 feet.  Two objects from the Hangar 17 collection are also on display as part of the installation: a rack of eyeglasses from an optician's display and a mannequin with a water-stained skirt, both retrieved from concourse shops of the World Trade Center.

Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon and the American Ambassador to Spain, Alan Solomont, gave remarks at the opening.  This is the first exhibition presented at CentroCentro, the former headquarters of the Spanish Postal Service and now, after eight years of restoration, a major new cultural attraction. 

By Clifford Chanin, Education Director for the 9/11 Memorial Museum