(Re)thinking Countermonuments: The Evolution of "Memory against itself"

All welcome – whether you’re just interested in listening or whether you want to take part in the discussion (we hope you will!). 

The event is entirely online on Zoom. There is no formal registration but you will need a passcode to join. Please email Frank Finlay to be sent a code.

21 June 

  • 10.30am Welcome  
  • 10.45am Introduction to the Colloquium 
  • 11.00am Session 1 
    • Tanja Schult (Stockholm University), The Legacy of the ‘Counter-Monument’ 
    • Justyna Balisz-Schmelz (University of Warsaw), Creation versus Transformation. Countermonument as an Artistic Endeavour and Bottom-up Initiative   
    • Hella Wiedmer-Newman (Zurich), Smirna Kulenović's Eco-Mnemonic Art: Toward a Sustainable Memorial Practice 
  • 12.45pm Lunch 
  • 1.30pm Session 2 
    • Melanie Hussinger (University of the Bundeswehr, Hamburg), The Last Address (Poslednij Adres) in Russia as a (Decentralised) Countermonument 
    • Anastasia V. Mitrofanova (Russian Academy of Sciences, FNISTs, Perm) and Svetlana V. Riazanova (Russian Academy of Sciences, PFITs, Perm), Art Festival as a Countermonument: the Case of ‘Pilorama’ (Sawmill) 
  • 2.30pm Session 3 
    • Paul Leworthy (Goethe University, Frankfurt), From ‘Counter-Monuments’ to ‘Counter-Museum-Exhibitions’: On the Influence of the ‘Counter-Monument’ and the Usefulness of the Concept outwith Memorial Culture 
    • Ilya Sulzhytski (University of Greifswald), Counter-memorials vs Counter-memorial Experience: Tripadvisor Reviews on the Memorial to the  Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin 
  • 3.30pm Tea break 
  • 4.00pm Session 4 
    • Elias Mendel (Artist, London), Threads, Angels and Memory: a Discussion and Demonstration of Creative Interventions in a Family Archive 
    • Gail Ritchie (Queen’s University, Belfast) The (Im)material Monument 
  • 5.00pm Session 5 
    • Claire Ross (University of Reading), Yadé Kara’s Literary Counter-monumentalism
    • Cian Pappenheim (University of Glasgow), Redt tsu zey vi tsu a lebediker: A Literary Case for Jewish Memorial Books as Early Examples of Counter-Monuments
    • Katya Krylova (University of Aberdeen), The Reception of Countermonuments in Contemporary Austrian Literature: Robert Schindel’s Der Kalte (2013) and Hanna Sukare’s Schwedenreiter (2018) 

22 June 

  • 10am Session 6 
    • Caterina Preda (University of Bucharest), ‘Performative Monuments Events’ as Counter-Monuments in Post-Socialist South-Eastern Europe 
    • Kata Bohus (University of Tromso), Only Heroes and Victims? Memory and Countermemory of WWII in Central Europe Today  
  • 11am Session 7 
    • Manuela Badilla (University of Valparaiso), Counter-Monumental Movement in Constituent Chile: An Ephemeral, Creative and Joyful Negotiation of the Difficult National Past
    • Emanuela Buscemi (University of Monterrey), The Antimonumenta ‘Vivas Nos Queremos’: Social Movements and Countermemories in Mexico City 
  • 12noon Lunch 
  • 1pm Session 8 
    • Jenny Woodley (Nottingham Trent University), The Countermonument as a Space for Mourning: The National Memorial for Peace and Justice 
    • Ramze Endut (National University of Malaysia), Place as a Countermonument: The Case for the Penan Community in Malaysia 
    • Sena Kaplan (Middle East Technical University), Enforced Disappearances Database as a Virtual Counter Monument 
  • 2.45pm Session 9 
    • Tafadzwa Gwini (University of Zimbabwe), Countermonuments as Alternative to Removal with Specific Reference to David Livingston’s Statue at Mosi-oa-Tunya and
    • Rhodes’ Grave at Njelele Shrine in Zimbabwe. 
    • Ayesha Perveen (Virtual University of Pakistan), From Colonial Monuments to Postcolonial Countermonuments: Sculptures in Lahore 
    • Annie Webster (University of London), Military and Monumental Encounters: Images of Fallen Statues in post-2003 Baghdad 
  • 4.30pm Tea Break 
  • 5pm Concluding open discussion