A Memorial for the New Economy

<p>On the 8th of November 2016, the Government of India demonetised all circulating 500 and 1000 rupee banknotes without warning. This move suddenly invalidated these notes, deeming them unusable in exchange for any goods or service. Instantly, India’s heavily cash dependent economy found itself in an unstable position. In the months following this announcement, over a 100 people died as a consequence.</p> <p>As a society we quickly memorialize the consequences of human conflict, natural disasters, and even of random acts of violence, but financial collapses and its human toll are often ignored or rendered invisible. Within this context, <i>A Memorial for the New Economy</i> proposes a publication as a memorial—one that is neither a grand proclamation, nor a fixed monument, but instead a document dependent on systems of distribution, access and exchange.</p>