Activities
Explore the recent activities of our members, including new programs they have developed, workshops and conferences they have engaged in and new collaborative activities sites have conducted in their regions and across common themes.
Building a Permanent Space for Ongoing Dialogue: Liberation War Museum (Bangladesh)
On February 12, 2010, the Liberation War Museum unveiled the design for the Museum’s new permanent building, to be constructed in the Agargaon area of Dhaka. The building will be a landmark new forum for people around the world to remember the Bangladeshi genocide of 1971 and link this history with contemporary human rights issues. The design for the new building was selected out of 70 proposals from more than 700 architects who competed to design this structure. The international jury reviewing the proposals said it was inspired by the high number of entries and the passion of the architects – many of whom did not witness the Liberation War of 1971 themselves – for designing a museum that “presents the past, present and future”. The unveiling ceremony also kicked off the “Museum: Building a Reality” fund raising drive to help the Liberation War Museum actualize its plans and turn its vision into reality.
Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP)’s New Mobile Exhibits Inspire Participants to “Remember Our Past– and Work for Our Future” (Philippines)
In December 2009, martial law was declared in the Philippines for the first time since the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos (1972 – 1981). In this context, the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) is designing four new traveling exhibits to broaden awareness of the history of Marco’s martial law. TFDP is a national human rights organization dedicated to documenting human rights violations, conducting human rights education work and providing legal and material assistance to victims and their families. In January 2009, TFDP opened an expanded Museum of Courage and Resistance to address past and present human rights questions in the Philippines. 
As new threats of repression arise, TFDP is developing mobile exhibits to bring the country’s history to new audiences across the country. With support from the Coalition’s Project Support Fund, the mobile exhibits titled “Remembering Our Past: Repression and Resistance – Working for Our Future: Human Rights and Dignity for All!” will travel to schools and communities around the Philippines over ten months. The exhibits are organized around four themes, each depicting the victimization of specific groups during the Marcos dictatorship: 1) the Negros Nine (referring to the three priests and six lay workers from the island of Negros charged with multiple murders in 1983); 2) women; 3) peasants; and 4) trade unions. As part of the exhibits, TFDP will host discussions to draw connections between these past abuses and current efforts to promote a more tolerant Philippine society. Participants, who range from students to civil society members and government officials, will be encouraged to volunteer and take an active role in defending and advancing human rights in their communities.
Terezín Memorial Brings Realities of Totalitarianism Close to Home for Today’s Youth (Czech Republic)
Terezín Memorial is bringing the lessons of totalitarianism close to home for today’s youth by remembering a familiar environment: the school. A new program “Being a Pupil in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia” teaches students about the experiences of their counterparts during the Nazi occupation of what was then the protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and what is today the Czech Republic.
Terezín Memorial, a former Jewish ghetto and transit station to death camps during the Holocaust not only commemorates victims of the Nazi persecution, but also employs its history to address the re-emergence of extreme rightist, neo-Nazi and nationalistic groups. Responding to the alarming rise of neo-Nazi groups in the Czech Republic today, the Terezín Memorial’s new program, supported by the Coalition’s Project Support Fund, aims to enable students to challenge current racist and anti-Semitic messages. A tour of Terezín’s Small Fortress, a former Gestapo prison, will teach school students about the persecution of students during the Nazi regime and the impact of Nazism on the school system. In workshops, using newly-developed worksheets, students will analyze Nazi efforts to control schooling and education to understand how racist and anti-Semitic messages reach young people today. As part of the program, Terezín Memorial will also develop an expanded online area where students can compile the history of their own school, share their experience of the program and discuss issues of discrimination and personal responsibility then and now.
The International Coalition Explores the Concept of “Environmental Sites of Conscience” (USA)
This March, a first gathering of sites around the world, including EcoPeace/ Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) and Bhopal Gas Tragedy Memorial Complex will explore the concept of “Environmental Sites of Conscience” at the joint meetings of the National Council of Public History and American Society of Environmental History. Facilitated by representatives from the Coalition and the U.S. National Park Service, the working group of site directors, environmental education experts, and environmental historians from a variety of countries and contexts will engage in a preliminary discussion on the role of historic sites in addressing environmental issues such as climate change, labor and environmental policies, and water issues. Learning about programs such as those at Chernobyl in Ukraine and the Marsh-Billings Rockefeller National Historic Park in Vermont, USA which remembers George Marsh’s discovery of the effects of deforestation and his successful campaign for reforestation to restore environmental balance, the group will explore how sites that remember human impact on our environment over time – whether positive or negative – can be harnessed to engage people in the environmental issues we face today.
Rosario’s Museo de la Memoria Obtains Keys to Historic Building (Argentina)
On Monday, 1 March 2010, after nearly a decade of struggles and delays, the Ministry of Culture and Education of Rosario (Argentina) will officially receive the keys to enter the historic building on the corner of Cordova and Moreno in the city of Rosario. The building is the former headquarters of a branch of the Army (Comando del II Cuerpo del Ejército) during the last dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983) and will now become the permanent site for the Museum of Memory of Rosario’s work to address the history of Argentina’s State Terrorism. During the next five months the Museum of Memory of Rosario’s will get the building ready to carry on its educational programs and activities. The site will be redesigned and restructured to include interactive rooms, computer terminals, and classrooms. It will also host a library and a documentation center. A significant number of artists are already working to design the thematic collections that the site will host. Memoria Abierta, the Regional Coordinator of the Latin American Sites of Conscience will continue to offer the Museum of Memory of Rosario support and guidance throughout the development of both the collections and programs at the historic building, which aspires to become a central reference point in the field of Human Rights in the city of Rosario.
Victory Day kicks Off Construction of the Ashram’s New Freedom Struggle Museum (Bangladesh)
Over 10,000 people, including some 3,000 students, witnessed the ceremonial laying of the first foundation stone for a new Freedom Struggle Museum at the Victory Day celebrations hosted by the Jamalpur Gandhi Ashram (the Ashram). The Ashram represents Bangladesh’s long anti-colonial struggle in the 20th century. Dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence and non-cooperation movement, the site is marked by a history of resistance and now works to promote ideals of peace, non-violence and tolerance. With the annual Victory Day celebration, marking the end of the Bangladesh Liberation War, the Ashram aims to commemorate the history of struggle in Bangladesh and inspire younger generations to promote non-vioWar. The Jamalpur Gandhi Ashram also used the occasion to launch the construction of the new Freedom Struggle Museum. The museum will be built on the site of the Ashram and will carry on the its mission to increase local investment by engaging tlence, tolerance and equality. At the December 23 event, the Ashram organized a photo exhibition on the Bangladeshi struggle for freedom and facilitated dialogues on the legacies of the Liberation he community in dialogue on the history of the independence movement in Bangladesh as well as the country’s human rights struggles today.
New Book Free Derry Wall Chronicles Public Response to Iconic Site (Northern Ireland)
‘What does Free Derry Wall mean to you?’ When the Museum of the Free Derry invited the general public to react to this open-ended question, the responses were varied and came from local residents, politicians, artists, activists, national figures and visitors to the city. Free Derry Wall refers to the wall in the city of Derry where the words ‘You Are Now Entering Free Derry’ were first handwritten in January 1969. This location became a focal point for many tumultuous events related to the conflict in N. Ireland. To some, the Wall is a symbol of freedom, a national monument, political icon, war memorial, community notice board, or a public sculpture. To others, it is an anachronism, contested space, a vehicle for propaganda, a spent force, clichéd tourist attraction, or a meaningless entity of bricks, mortar and paint. In Free Derry Wall, a new book published on the site’s 40th anniversary, the Museum of Free Derry showcases these varied perspectives and experiences, collected over the past 10 years. The book reflects what has been going on around the Wall and the world over time, and explores and debates the many meanings the Wall held and still holds today.
Members of the International Coalition can purchase Free Derry Wall at the discounted price of £10. If you want to order the book, please e-mail info@ghpress.com and refer to the International Coalition.
Diversity Challenges creates a safe space for dialogue with “After Conflict Experiences” (Northern Ireland)
Diversity Challenges’ new dialogue program, “After Conflict Experiences”, aims to promote reconciliation and shared understanding of the recent conflict in and about Northern Ireland. Diversity Challenges works to assist culturally specific groups in Northern Ireland to integrate community relations principles and considerations in all aspects of their work.
“After Conflict Experiences”, supported by the Coalition’s Project Support Fund, will bring together a variety of participants, including those who served during the conflict, to reflect and talk openly with each other in a safe space about their different experiences and perspectives of the conflict. These talks will begin with participants visiting and photographing identified sites of conflict. The program aims to build relationships between the participants and connect them with local community organizations that support Diversity Challenges’ work and goals. Building on this pilot, Diversity Challenges will develop “After Conflict Experiences” into a comprehensive program that increases understanding and offers support to those affected by the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Healing Through Remembering (Northern Ireland) Exchanges Experiences with the House of the Wannsee Conference (Berlin) to Develop New Exhibit
In the aftermath of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Healing Through Remembering will travel to Berlin to participate in a staff exchange with the House of the Wannsee Conference and visit other local museums remembering conflict. Healing Through Remembering (HTR) is an extensive cross-community project where individual members with differing political, social and religious perspectives come together to focus on how best to deal with the past relating to the conflict in and about Northern Ireland. The staff exchange, supported by the Coalition’s Project Support Fund, will enable HTR to learn from the experience of the House of the Wannsee Conference – where Nazi leadership in 1942 discussed the planned deportation and murder of all European Jews – in becoming a well accepted museum that commemorates histories of conflict while promoting understanding and dialogue about the issues surrounding it. HTR will also visit other local museums such as the Stasi Prison Museum and the DDR Museum – the only museum dedicated to remembering the everyday life in the former East Germany. HTR will develop an exhibition on “Everyday Objects Transformed by Conflict”. The exhibition will be a step forward in creating a Living Memorial Museum in Northern Ireland, a museum that acknowledges the past conflict, considers its relationship to the present and provides a space “to imagine a better future.”
Núcleo Memoria Creates Ongoing Dialogue with Monthly Youth Program at Memorial de la Resistencia. (Brazil)
“Sabados Resistentes” (“Resisting Saturdays”), is a dialogue program of Núcleo de Preservação da Memória Política (Núcleo Memoria) that uses lectures, theater performances and documentaries to lead young people into debate and discussion about the history of the dictatorship in Brazil and how it relates to current experiences. The program takes place at Memorial de Resistencia de Sao Paulo (Memorial of the Resistance in Sao Paolo)- housed in the old headquarters of San Paulo’s State Department of Political and Social Order of the State – and uses the politically charged history of the site to open dialogue on issues like state terrorism and torture. 
Supported by the Coalition’s Project Support Fund”, Núcleo Memoria will now expand this program, organizing “Sabados Resistentes” every month until June 2010. The expanded program will now invite international and national experts to share their experiences and will offer new materials to educate youth about Brazil’s dictatorship and its contemporary legacy. Núcleo Memoria is a working group of the Forum Permanente de ex presos y perseguidos políticos de Sao Paulo (Permanent Forum of Former Prisoners and Political Refugees from Sao Paulo), an institution founded to defend the interests of former political prisoners during the military dictatorship in Brazil (1964-1985). Through human rights and educational efforts, Núcleo Memoria aims to preserve the memory of people’s struggle against the illegal military regime that lasted 21 years in Brazil.
“Out of the Kitchen” Strengthens Dialogue at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum (USA)
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum will expand opportunities for visitors to engage in open dialogue by launching “Out of the Kitchen”, a revision of the Museum’s well-known “Kitchen Conversations” dialogue program. Through tours of the restored apartments of its landmark tenement building at 97 Orchard street, home to 7,000 people from over 20 nations between 1863 and 1935, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum invites visitors to “meet” the families who lived there. Using these individual, human stories as a starting point, the Museum held “Kitchen Conversations” – a program for visitors to engage in open conversation about contemporary immigration experiences and issues. Now, through the Coalition’s Project Support Fund, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum will expand the “Kitchen Conversations” program to encourage open dialogue throughout a tour experience, allowing participants to draw on the emotions evoked by being in the tenement apartments and connect with contemporary immigration experiences.
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum launches first educational outreach program (Cambodia)
As Cambodia hold its landmark trials to bring to justice architects of the Khmer Rouge genocide, the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is launching its first educational program geared towards Cambodian secondary school students. The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a former high school that was used as a prison by the Khmer Rouge regime from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979. The buildings at Tuol Sleng are preserved as they were left when the Khmer Rouge were driven out in 1979. The Museum commemorates the millions of Cambodians who lost their lives to the Khmer Rouge, and aims to educate future generations on this history relating it contemporary human rights issues, democratic freedom and tolerance. The Museum’s new educational program, supported by the Coalition’s Project Support Fund, will bring Cambodian students weekly to the site over a ten-month period, to share the history of the Khmer Rouge genocide and engage the students in discussion about its legacies in Cambodian society today. The program seeks to provide Cambodian youth with knowledge and ways to reconcile past atrocities and promote peace and understanding in the future.
Documentary Film “La Memoria Barrial” shows neighborhood memories of State Terrorism (Mendoza, Argentina)
On November 6, 2009, La Casa por la Memoria y la Cultura Popular, (The House for Memory and Popular Culture Public Library) premiered the documentary “La Memoria Barrial” (“Neighborhood Memory”) in Mendoza, Argentina. The documentary, supported by the Coalition’s Project Support Fund, is a way for people to explore and confront their experiences of the military dictatorships, from a personal and local perspective. “La Memoria Barrial” tells the story of Hector “Flaco” Pringles, resident of Mendoza and leader of the Peronist Youth – a popular youth militancy – who was murdered in November 1975. By reconstructing his life and death, the documentary sheds light on the life and spirit of the Peronist Youth and the Mendoza community, and explores the actions of paramilitary groups and their relationship with the state. The documentary also features stories of local residents, collected through dialogue sessions. La Casa por la Memoria y la Cultura develops educational materials, about Argentina’s dictatorships, as a basis for dialogue. It works to include local experiences and memories of the dictatorships, moving beyond the history on the provincial or national level. It aims to make these stories part of public history to engage local communities in confronting and discussing their own experiences and understand how State Terrorism grew and developed in Mendoza and Argentina.
The premier of the documentary was a great success and the large turnout earned the film a spot in the first Documentary Film Festival organized by the Secretary of Culture of the Government of Mendoza. The Library also plans to present the documentary in Buenos Aires and it in its ongoing course, “Making History: Identity and Memory,” at schools and community centers. Read the article about “La Memoria Barrial” in Veintitrés here.