Unsent Letters Project
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Unsent Letters > About The Project 
About The Project
The Unsent Letters Project is an interactive communications project created to give you an anonymous venue to say something that you’ve always wanted to say but couldn’t. Whether it’s time, circumstance, or practicality, we all have words inside that have gone unvoiced. This project was created to give those words life, however briefly, and enable you to experience the release that comes from finally letting those thoughts and feelings free - if only for a moment.

The journey does not end here. We aren't simply giving you a place to release those long-held messages you’ve always wanted to send and leaving it at that. The project has several goals – the first of which is collecting your letters. For many of you the act of writing your letter will be enough. In truth, this is only the beginning.

Imagine those emotions that you’ve carried so long and have finally released being gathered up with those of others. Imagine them taking a journey to a place where thousands of people have gathered to celebrate art, life, and community. Imagine them being taken to a place created to embody the beauty and diversity of life. Not to be read; not to languish forever until time turns the pages to dust. After a week of celebration they will be burned in their entirety. In many cultures burning is a symbol of renewal and rebirth. That is the spirit we are seeking to capture by burning your unsent letters.

This burning will take place at the annual Burning Man Festival in Black Rock City held just outside Gerlach, NV. Photos of the art installation, and hopefully video, will be published on this site after the event has taken place. The tentative deadline for submission of letters to be burned is 8/20/2006. In the event this project cannot get to the festival an alternate venue will be identified. Past and future attendees of Burning Man can learn about a special aspect of this project by clicking the Black Rock City link.

The third phase of the project is to publish those letters where consent has been given in book form and share the thoughts and emotions of the Unsent Letters community. Our intent is to donate the proceeds to organizations that help others find their voice, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Amnesty International, and the Center for Victims of Torture. We are currently working on phase one of this project, and as such have yet to contact any recipient organizations. Our ability to publish depends on you, our potential publishing partners, and the recipient organizations. We hope to have more information by November of 2006.