Memory and Politics

What constitutes a memorial and what defines memory? What is the relevance of memorials today? And how can memorials be revitalized and reinterpreted in a contemporary context? To discuss these topics, the Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces and the Royal Danish Embassy have invited researchers, museum directors and artists.

Through presentations of current perspectives on and examples of memorials, monuments and other sites of remembrance in mainly Denmark and Germany, the symposium will explore the meaning and relevance of memorials and monuments today. Experts and artists will investigate the development over the course of time, reflecting the use of as well as the various layers of memory represented in memorials and monuments from historical, art historical, artistic, urban planning and political angles.

The symposium is part of a new strategic focus on Germany within cultural exchange as well as the European Cultural Heritage Summit and is opened by the Danish Minister for Culture, Mette Bock.

Speakers

Jens Haaning | Artist | Denmark
Katharina Hochmuth | Projektkoordinatorin »Aufarbeitung des Kommunismus« | Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in East Germany | Berlin
Dr. Uwe Koch | Ministerialrat | Leiter der Geschäftsstelle des Deutschen Nationalkomitees für Denkmalschutz (DNK) bei der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien | Berlin  
Markus Meckel | Außenminister a. D. & Ratsvorsitzender der Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung | Berlin
Ulrikke Neergaard | Director | KØS Museum of Art in Public Spaces | Denmark
Carsten Porskrog | Director | Museum Sønderborg Castle | Denmark
Manfred Wichmann | Curator Collections | Stiftung Berliner Mauer  | Berlin

Please find the complete program here.

Arranged in collaboration with KØS – Museum of Art in Public Spaces and the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in East Germany.

Foto: Istedløven | historielab.dk