Memory in the Making: From Monuments to Movements

Memory culture can be a highly charged subject of academic, political and activist debates. In a diverse and increasingly fragmented society, we ask ourselves: Who, how and why do we want to remember? 

In recent years, theories and models that focus on a polyphony of voices and a variety of formats have become increasingly popular. Particularly independently organised commemorative practices by marginalised communities – for example the toppling of monuments glorifying colonialism, actively remembering victims of racist violence such as George Floyd (Minneapolis, USA) or William Tonou-Mbobda (Hamburg, Germany), and projects such as the “19. Februar Hanau” Initiative - are questioning traditional forms of remembrance. 

The US-American academic Michael Rothberg is an authority in this field and has become a source of inspiration for activists and intellectuals alike. Speaking with him, we will focus on contemporary remembrance practices and interventions questioning the canon of established remembrance culture. How can remembrance practices look like when they refuse to play collective traumas off against each other, but instead strengthen shared experiences and shared suffering, solidarity and understanding across community boundaries? What can we learn from thinkers such as W.E.B Du Bois, Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon and Hannah Arendt, especially considering the post 1945 relationships between slavery, colonialism, mass murder and the Holocaust? 

Aiming to promote a community-building and unifying culture of remembrance, the discussion will shed light on current multi-perspective practices of remembrance and their potential for our present and future. 

Körber-Stiftung is organising the event together with Kampnagel as part of this year's eCommemoration Convention and the opening of Kampnagel's season “Echoes of Tomorrow”.