CONTESTED MEMORY | CONTESTED SPACES
Oral Programme
16–17 September 2017. Vytautas Magnus University, V. Putvinskio g. 23, Kaunas
26 October 2017. National Gallery of Art, Konstitucijos pr. 22, Vilnius
When discussing monuments and commemoration, we have to talk about two fundamental interrelated aspects of this phenomenon: what are we commemorating and how should we commemorate it? Although a list of monument-deserving heroes raises questions and is by no means exhaustive, in our oral programme we want to focus on the second aspect – how? During the first Biennial weekend, researchers and artists will answer questions such as: What form might a contemporary monument take? How does the shape of the monument affect its content? How to create monuments of national importance that reach consensus between politicians, society and artists? Why do politicians and the general public still prefer traditional figurative monuments? How do Western societies react to new forms of commemoration?
The aim of the oral programme is to inform decisionmakers, art and culture researchers, artists, students, public figures and interested members of the public about the many different examples of alternative forms of remembrance in other countries. The programme responds to debatable commemoration projects planned for the occasion of the Centenary of the modern Lithuanian State and aims to deconstruct prevailing mechanisms of memory “management” by revealing their political and cultural links. Together with the 11th Kaunas Biennial the oral programme opposes populist and conservative traditionalism in the practice of monument-building and seeks to encourage and legitimise contemporary conceptual ideas and strategies of commemoration.
Curated by Dr. Rasa Antanavičiūtė
PROGRAMME
Registration contact: Neringa Stoškutė / neringa@bienale.lt / +37062998182