Dynamics of public memory in Hellenistic Priene: A case study. In: Bajnok, Dániel (ed.): ALIA MISCELLANEA ANTIQUITATUM. Proceedings of the Second Croatian–Hungarian PhD Conference on Ancient History and Archaeology. Budapest-Debrecen, 2017, 189–200. (Hungarian Polis Studies 23.) (original) (raw)
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Public Statues as a Strategy of Remembering in Early Imperial Messene
Dijkstra, T.M, I.N.I Kuin, M. Moser & D. Weidgennant (eds.) Strategies of Remembering in Greece under Rome (100 BC - 100 AD), Publications of the Netherlands Institute in Athens VI, Sidestone Press, 2017
Under the Roman Empire the poleis of Greece were setting up honorific statuary monuments with increasing frequency. Statues of emperors and members of the imperial family, of local politicians and benefactors are attested in all areas of public space from agoras to bathhouses, from gymnasia to theatres. While these monuments were intended to perpetuate the memories of contemporary individuals, they stood in settings that were also home to older statues, which served as focal points or remembering, or reinventing, local history and identity. Our best source for these monuments is, of course, Pausanias. The tendency in modern scholarship has been to see the impact of all these statues on public space in negative terms – monuments of emperors advertised foreign oppression; monuments for members of the local elite signalled the end of democracy; both took up space where day-to-day activity had once taken place; and the survival of old historic monuments transformed civic centres into museum-like spaces for backward looking introspection. This article challenges this vision and argues that public monuments played a dynamic role in defining relations of power both vis-à-vis Rome and within the polis at the local level. It makes the case that examining the spatial setting of monuments and looking at the interplay of meaning – both intended and fortuitous – between different types of statue in the same spatial setting adds new layers of understanding regarding their political significance. The case study, Messene, is studied using archaeological, epigraphic and literary evidence. Messene is ideally suited for thinking about the range of ways in which monumental space could be used to shape political realities in Greece under the Empire.
Political monuments from the 20th to the 21th century: memory, form, meaning, 2022
This paper is titled “Mapping the memory of the Macedonian Struggle through its monuments: the case of the Archive of Monuments of Macedonia of the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle”. Our research aims to record and showcase monuments of the Macedonian Struggle and its protagonists in the general area of Macedonia. For the purposes of our research, we focused on the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle, specifically the utilisation of the Archive of Monuments of Macedonia. We believe that the Archive of Monuments of Macedonia, with the wealth of information it provides, constitutes a unique source for the common use study of those personalities and periods to which the political, social and ideological environment ascribed heroic characteristics during the 1990s. In any case, we are aware of the above argumentation’s fluid character and hope this paper can contribute to the public discussion on the use of history.
'Conflict and Memory: The case of Monuments in Athenian Cemeteries'
Athenian cemeteries can bring a lot of evidence concerning conflict. At first, there are cemeteries in Athens which have a direct involvement in conflict, namely the Commonwealth War Cemetery and the German War Cemetery. Besides, the Third Cemetery of Athens contains several monuments concerning conflict, not only a Memorial of unknown soldiers in the military part, but also Memorials of common citizens, victims of the World War II; the Jewish section contains Memorials and individual tombs, too. There are also monuments of symbolic sense, as the " Mother of the Occupation " at the First Cemetery, devoted to the victims of the Great Famine in occupied Athens during World War II. The paper deals with these monuments and examines whether their interpretation has helped to achieve reconciliation.
Kasvikis, K., Theodoroudi, E., Kotsakis, K. (2012), “The past and the public: History and monuments in the Aristotelous Axis, Thessaloniki”, in N. Schȕcker (ed.) Integrating Archaeology: Science, Wish, Reality, International Conference Proceedings, Römisch-Germanische Kommission, Frankfurt a. M., 3-8.
Skopje 2014: The Govermental Role in the Spatial Politics of Collective Memory
2013
Skopje 2014: Governmental Role in the Spatial Politics of Collective Memory In my research the key interest is to understand how the government uses public spaces in order to supply the continuity of the narratives and how it maintains collective memories. In the matter of the public interpretations of the past, I am especially interested in the effects it has upon the collective memories of the citizens, notably to the generations, who have experienced the city. Above all, I examine the work of artists and architects who are using styles and symbols that affect the memories by ambivalent imitations and interpretations. Such content is seen within the framework of a multi-ethnical state presented by polarized public with polarized relations between the two major ethnicities of Macedonians and Albanians. I will try to examine the level of manipulation while demonstrating history in public space, creating false correlations of the past. Such phenomenon has been perceived as a one of having negative influence at present. It is taken as a possible change within the process of identification of future generations. I organized the research in two parts. In the first one I give a synchronic presentation of delivered criticism and comments on the project"Skopje 2014". In the second part, having a diachronic approach, interpreted past of the development of the city of Skopje is presented. 6 Abstrakt Projekt Skopje 2014: role vlády při využití prostorové politiky kolektivní paměti Klíčovou otázkou diplomové práce je pochopit, jak vláda používá veřejná prostranství za účelem poskytnutí kontinuity vyprávění a jak udržuje kolektivní paměť. Ve věci veřejných výkladů minulosti jsem se soustředila na prosazování vlivu na kolektivní paměť občanů. Zajímalo mne jak se na tyto snahy dívá mladá generace a potom ti starší, kteří zažili město v jeho starší podobě. Především jsem se zabývala prací umělců a architektů, kteří používají styly a symboly, které mají vliv na vzpomínky, na ambivalentní vliv napodobenin a interpretací. Takový obsah je vidět v rámci multi-etnického státu, kdy je předkládán polarizované veřejnosti, zejména mezi dvěma hlavními etniky-Makedonci a Albánci. V práci zkoumám úroveň manipulace při prokazování historie ve veřejném prostoru, vytváření falešných korelací minulosti. Takový jev byl vnímán jako ten, jenž má negativní vliv v současné době, a je považován za možnou změnu v procesu identifikace s městem pro budoucí generace. Zorganizovala jsem výzkum do dvou částí. V první části podávám synchronní prezentaci, kritiku a připomínky k projektu "Skopje 2014". Ve druhé části, aplikuji diachronní přístup, kdy prezentuji a interpretuji historii města Skopje optikou zkušenosti s projektem Skopje 2014. Zkoumám prezentaci národní a evropské identity v projektu Skopje 2014 a jejich vnímání různými představiteli veřejnosti, aplikuji koncept "branding of nation" a "branding the city". 7 Résumé Ce mémoire est une étude historique et social sur le projet en République de la Macédoine, Skopje 2014. L'objectif est d'observer l'usage des espaces publiques dans la construction d'identités collectives ainsi qu'analyser comment le projet a affectées les mémoires collectives. Dans un Etat de courte histoire comme la République de Macédoine, comment la nation estelle construite à présent? Dans quelle mesure les symboles oeuvrent à la creation d'une identité collective? Enfin, quelle est la répercusion que ces symboles ont pour les gens ordinaires?. Le premier chapitre sera consacré à l'introduction du Projet Skopje 2014 en parallèle à l'histoire de la ville dans une approche synchronique. Le Projet est abordé comme la continuité d'une longue tradition de symboles dans l'histoire intégré du territoire de l'Etat Macédonien. Lors du deuxième chapitre je vais tourner à l'approche diachronique, afin de comprendre la façon dont l'identité des habitants est cultivée. Pour ce faire j'analyserais à travers différents périodes historiques les fragments appliquées sur le développement architectural et urbain. Les théories de Miroslav Grcev et Boris Chipan seront mises en avant pour comprendre la relation entre société et architecture. Le troisième chapitre de conclusion ouvrira un débat en combinant critique livrée et en comparant les événements de l'histoire. J'argumenterais suivant les propos de Eric Hobsbawn (1983) que la nation macédonienne-caracterisée par son manque de tradition de longue duréerepose dans la construction et revendication d'une grande tradition. Le Projet Skopje 2014 évidence l'invention d'une continuité des traditions et des symboles dans le but de maintenir la mémoire collective. Le matériel utilisé pour répondre aux questionnements de recherche concerne un important travail d'archives (journaux, articles, magazines et livres) qui présentent un point de vue politique et intellectuel du projet, ainsi que des entretiens ethnographiques pour examiner la répercusion qu'a eu le projet sur l'opinion publique.
A Vanished Past? The Uses of a Historical Square in Thessaloniki
‘A Vanished Past? The Uses of a Historical Square in Thessaloniki’ This presentation aims to discuss one episode that has preoccupied the local press in Greece, but refers, in reality, to a larger scale problematization around the politics of remembering (and honouring) and forgetting important events of the past –events which have shaped the modern Greek identity. We are referring to the recent controversy that has surrounded the ‘dedication’ of Plateia Eleftherias (Square of Liberation) in Thessaloniki to the memory of the Jewish ordeal and genocide, a series of anti-Jewish orders that were initiated in July 1942 and resulted in the extermination in the following years of 50.000 Jews from the city. Even though a monument/sculpture exists in one corner of the square since 1997, recent suggestion by the mayor to turn the whole place into a locus of remembrance for the genocide of the Jewish people has faced opposition from many segments of the city’s community based on the argument that the place should be commemorating other important events from the past which were initiated there or were related to this area also. The recreation of the space was open to architectural proposals and the plan which gained the support of the majority promoted the idea of an all-inclusive installation which will indicate through the function of a solar clock the exact historical event each time (the day of the fire of 1917, the Neo-Turkish movement, the gathering of Jews in the square etc). That way, the recreation of the square will promote neither the idea of honouring the memory of the genocide nor any other particular event, creating a ‘neutral space’ in a city which seems reluctant to embrace its multicultural aspects –even if it purports to do so. The scope of the presentation, after exploring the public dialogue related to this issue, is to discuss the idea of memory in relation to modern historical consciousness and sensitivity, and to analyze how the function and/ or recreation of space remains an intense topic filled with social and political connotations.
Public Oblivion: Greek Monuments of Division and Their Impact on Everyday Culture Wars
CAS Sofia Working Paper Series, 2024
This paper discusses certain aspects of the dominant cultural heritage discourse in Greece, and their effects on the construction, preservation, and diffusion of public memory; although my case studies will not be archaeological as such, I will be discussing the materialities political power is imbued with, and the ways in which it regenerates itself at their expense (a process in which Greek archaeology often interferes). Focusing on what we generally call “alien monuments,” that is, monuments that do not form part of the hegemonic culture, the paper discusses minority legacies, as they strive to rescue themselves from centrally waged wars on memory, and oblivion.