Birth of the Guardians of Memory

The Story of the Birth of the "Guardians of Memory" Project

My name is Alexander, I'm a graphic designer and printer. I've always been passionate about drawing, art, literature, and painting. In a fast-paced world where most things are superficial, it's not always easy to stay focused and focused on everything that comes our way.

So I escape, in my head, in history, in the arts... A few years ago, I undertook to write a book and even to draw it, a fiction in which I was already the descendant of a village storyteller who held the knowledge of the people, a guardian of the knowledge of men. The book is still unfinished, it will be because the stories are a sprawling mixture of myths and histories from each continent.

Passionate about genealogy as well, I have gone back in time to my ancestors as far as I could and I still continue. I have embarked on an exciting adventure, full of discoveries, memories and knowledge, but despite everything, I still feel this emptiness. I would have liked to have an eye on the past to see how my ancestors lived, how they loved or hated each other, it doesn't matter, just to see them and observe their lives, because if I am here today, it is because many generations have followed one another to arrive at the present moment. So all of us who are here, necessarily come from long lines.

Unfortunately, I couldn't go back to my distant ancestors and know all that. So the idea came to me. If I can't go back to the past, no doubt in the future people will ask themselves the same questions. In history books, there is only the story of those who passed it on or witnessed it, but no trace of the small local farmer who supported an entire family from his labor, no trace of a dad and a mom who were just relatives, ordinary people and so many others. It's sad, I think.

So what would be the way to tell the story of each person, I mean the story of humanity, of those who would like to leave a trace, an imprint, a part of themselves? Not long ago, I lost my father. I was lucky enough to know him until I was almost 50, and I was always asking him to tell me about his childhood, his relationships with people, with family, and a whole bunch of other things.

My father was a kind-hearted person who helped a lot of young people in the neighborhoods where we lived. They always returned his favor with respect and honor.

All these triggers, taken together, gave me the idea of ​​being able to do the opposite. If I can't reach too far into the past, I can intervene very far into the future. If I can use all the current means to leave my mark, to leave messages for my great-grandchildren if I have any later, and even if I want to convey a message to someone who will live 800 years from now, for example, I have the power. All I have to do is record myself, gather photos, texts, or letters I may have written, and find a way to put them in a time capsule. If by chance it's discovered a long time from now, someone will know that I existed, someone will know what part of my life was. But how can I do this? And what I hope above all is for this discovery to be made by one of my descendants, if there are any in the future. The earth is changing, climatic causes, wars, all the events that occur will bury my story and perhaps no one will know anything about it. This idea is unbearable to me. Of course, at first, we are perpetuating humanity, but I want more and it is my right. I want my existence to continue not through fame like actors or actresses, politicians. Besides, who in the new generations really remembers even three actors from the 1950s? Few when I speak of some.

If it matters to me, maybe it matters to others too. So here and now, I decide to launch this idea that we can influence the future by leaving our traces, our teachings, our commitments and that it is everyone's right to do so.

How can we recover all this data so that it doesn't get lost? Well, with current resources, we can save it on hard drives, on multiple drives stored in various locations around the world, ask institutions for help, and have it recognized as a project for humanity, a lasting legacy.

Where should this data be stored? There should be at least one custodian on each continent, and they should be trusted to store hard drives. But that's not enough. As I said before, disasters, changes, and other events beyond our control can bury all of this. There's a global repository in Svalbard; why not ask them to keep a copy of that too? It's done, the request has been submitted.

But I want to go even further. I don't know what our planet will become, but we are capable of sending modules into space, we have reached the moon and Mars, so why not send this data to the International Space Station, for example, to preserve it in one form or another and then to Mars? I may be thinking too big or too far, but I think we all deserve eternity and this is a way to endure. Even if it seems unachievable, humans have been capable of much more, so I still submit all my requests to the institutions. At worst, I may find myself faced with a "no." It doesn't matter. Someone will end up supporting me and helping me with the logistics that await me.

The other question is how to give Caesar what belongs to Caesar? How will future descendants find their ancestors and listen to their stories? Well, everything will be in the kit: a card with a guardian's contact information, a unique and personal code that will be transmitted to access the data. Today, I am the first guardian, but I have already found three other people younger than me who will become guardians in Europe and the United States. I will certainly need more, but I will find them.

This is how from an artistic idea, from a fiction, this idea germinated and transposed itself from my person, from what I wanted, from the desire to transmit a message to future generations to a humanitarian cause that concerns everyone, a legacy and a bridge between the present and the future.