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iCal calendarThe speaker of this "Inimkond" seminar is Dr Siobhan Kattago from Tallinn University, who will be talking at 4 p.m. in room M340 about On Collecting, Sorting and Storing.
One of the first signs of regime change is the tearing down of statues and monuments. This symbolic break with the old regime and beginning of a new one leads to a myriad of other questions. What should be done with the old statues? Should memorial sites be renovated or left alone as an historical reminder of bygone times? Contrary to Robert Musil’s infamous claim that ‘there is nothing so invisible as a monument,’ they seem to be very visible in many parts of the world – most notably in Eastern Europe.
While monuments tend to valorise significant events or individuals, memorials are primarily places of mourning reflecting on death. Why do certain monuments represent the past more powerfully than others? How do war and Holocaust memorials offer a glimpse into the emotional power of symbols and sacred spaces? By seeking to make present that which is absent, monuments face an almost impossible task.
War memorials are modern palimpsests with multiple layers of inscription as their meaning changes with the passing of time. Tombs to the Unknown Soldier reflect the democratization of death in the name of the nation, while Holocaust memorials commemorate death and the enormity of loss, without offering any kind of justification. Once a memorial or monument has been built, however, it takes on a life of its own in which the original, emotional meaning of suffering may even vanish completely in time.