Four Freedoms Park in Roosevelt Island, New York City (original) (raw)

Monument(s) to Freedom and Unity

German Politics and Society, 2019

This paper explores the memorial projects in Berlin and Leipzig, Germany, to commemorate the fall of communism and the reunification of Germany. While neither memorial has yet been completed, the debates reveal a great deal of tension between the memorial preferences of ordinary citizens and those of the elected political elite. Further, the debates illustrate the emergence in a large segment of society of a desire to balance the memories of Germany's darker past with positive memories of its accomplishments.

Remodelling Public Space: the Fate of War Monuments, 1945–48

The Power of Memory in Modern Japan, 2008

This article aims at exploring the post-war fate of pre-war commemorative sites and monuments in Japan, an important matter that is connected to some very sensitive religious and cultural problems, starting with the ongoing discussions about the Yasukuni Shrine.

Il monumento alle Fosse Ardeatine Roma 1944-1949

Lo scritto ripercorre le vicende del massacro nazista della Fosse ardeatine e il successivo monumento, analizzandone il rapporto tra forma e costruzione e le valenze espressive. Le fotografie sono di Andrea Jemolo e di Bernardo Corsetti

The Iconography of Patriotism: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln in Union Square

Situated between social history and the history of urban design, this paper investigates Union Square in New York City as both a real public space and as the symbol of competing ideas about the operation of democracy in the United States. Employing Roland Barthes’ concept of “urban semiology,” it emphasizes the fluidity of signification and the misalignment between functional purpose and semantic meaning in the design and re-design of Union Square from its founding in the early-nineteenth century to the 1950s. In particular it focuses on three built elements: statues of Presidents Washington and Lincoln, and the paved rectangular area to the north, known as “the plaza.” Employing Charles Sanders Peirce's categorization of three different forms of sign, the paper considers the statues and the plaza as “symbols, icons, and indexes” of the concepts of republicanism and democracy. In keeping with Barthes’ belief that urban signification is not fixed, the analysis recognizes the numerous actors engaged in the struggle to control the use and define the significance of Union Square, including not only city authorities and influential private citizens’ organizations, but also labour unions and members of political parties, each representing distinct classes and perspectives.

A History of Terror, A Memorial to Peace: exploring Hiroshima's Peace Park

The first atomic bomb used on humankind was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945. The creation of Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park in 1954, situated on the A-Bomb ruins in the city’s downtown, incorporates over 60 monuments today. It has become a place of prayer, remembrance, commemoration, mourning, grief, learning and activism; while fulfilling its concurrent role of an ‘enjoyable’ city park. Since its formation, the Peace Park has continually changed and been under construction, both physically and otherwise, with the addition of fresh monuments ever few years and the declaration of the A-Bomb Dome as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. This paper analyses the multi-modal approach used in the making of non-linear narratives within the Hiroshima Peace Park complex in present times, where remembering the tragic after-effects of the A-Bomb is situated alongside prayers for peace, survivor testimonies, the will to prevent all future nuclear wars, and daily visitor experiences and actions. The super-imposed, yet distinct pieces that sculpt this landscape as a whole, rely on the premise that Hiroshima’s history is neither forgiven nor forgotten in the hopes of advocating world peace by immortalizing the lessons of evil to-be-taught to future generations.

AFTER THE " MONUMENTS " : PUBLIC ART AND POST-WAR MEMORY

What should be done with the US's Confederate monuments? The question is explored from the standpoint of Nietzsche's concepts of monumental, antiquarian, and critical history on the one hand, and of Arthur Danto's discussion of public art on the other.