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July/Aug/Sept 2005 |
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Join the Movement: Become a Member of the Coalition
Support this unique network by becoming a member of the Coalition. As a member, you will help sustain an enlarging network dedicated to actively using history to promote humanitarian and democratic values, and redefining museum practice. Visit www.sitesofconscience.org/eng/about.htm to sign up today!
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CONTENTS:
District Six Museum Hosts International Conference on Heritage and Human Rights
Sites of Conscience Engage in a Lekgotla with Justice Albie Sachs
Gulag Sites Strive to Build an Anti-Totalitarian Culture in Russia
Corporación Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi Joins Coalition
National Center for Preservation of Democracy Opens Doors for Dialogue
What Comes After: Cities, Art and Recovery, New York City, US
Common Ground: The Japanese American National Museum and the Culture of Collaborations
Teaching the Japanese American Experience: An Educator's Toolkit
Mednoye Memorial Complex, Russia
Museo de la Memoria - Rosario, Argentina
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District Six Museum Hosts International Conference on Heritage and Human Rights
(May 25-28, 2005)
How can museums and historic sites make places of memory relevant to their communities today while promoting a lasting culture of human rights? To address this question, Coalition Members from the Gulag Museum, Japanese American National Museum, Liberation War Museum, Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Maison des Esclaves, Memoria Abierta, and Terezin Memorial participated in "Hands on District Six: Landscapes of Postcolonial Memorialisation", an international conference hosted by the District Six Museum in Cape Town, South Africa.
Gathering over 200 former residents of District Six, local and international museum practitioners, scholars, artists and human rights activists, "Hands on District Six" not only reflected on the District Six Museum's growth as an institution and its role in the return of ex-residents to the barren landscape of the District Six neighbourhood, but provided critical space for reflection on emerging practices of memorialisation, heritage and engagements with living memory within the challenges of building a humane and democratic public culture in South Africa. A call was also made to establish a network of forced removal sites in South Africa, as well as to begin a larger regional initiative.
Beginning with a comprehensive orientation to the District Six area, the conference offered emotive workshops at Langa, Manenberg and Protea Village, three former sites of forcible relocation. Here, community practitioners and session participants confronted the effects of forced removals, land restitution, urban justice. They discussed how museums can join communities to engage audiences in the wide range of issues surrounding sites of forced removals. Throughout the conference, Coalition participants drew upon their own sites' and national experiences to make connections with their South African counterparts. The conference closed with a public day of celebration through music, art, poetry readings, a healing ritual, and a colourful procession to the proposed Memorial Park in District Six. Full details about the conference, including background information and the conference program, can be found on http://www.districtsix.co.za/frames.htm.
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Sites of Conscience Engage in a Lekgotla with Justice Albie Sachs
(May 24, 2005)
Coalition Members commenced their visit to South Africa with a visit and lekgotla (discussion/gathering) with Justice Albie Sachs at Constitution Hill, home of the new South African Constitutional Court and Johannesburg's notorious Old Fort Prison Complex. During the lekgotla, Justice Sachs discussed the power of memory to promote human rights and justice - and why placing the Constitutional Court on the site of the Old Fort was critical for the evolution of democracy and society in South Africa. Open to the public since 2004, this site tells the story of both colonial and apartheid repression in South Africa. Many of the nation's leading political activists, such as Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, were detained there before the dawn of South African democracy in 1994. But so too were thousands of ordinary black women and men who were held in these prisons for transgressing the myriad discriminatory laws that governed their lives. They were thrown into jail simply because of their race and because they happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Lekgotlas are a central organizing principle of Constitution Hill. These public debates, lectures, seminars and workshops provide fora to explore issues relating to the history of the site, and offer visitors opportunities to define their place in a changing South Africa. Examples include: 'Encounter Lekgotlas', meetings between decision-makers such as judges, politicians, policymakers and members of the public in order to encourage dialogue and public accountability; 'Dialogue Lekgotlas', more informal interactions between groups of learners, non-governmental organisations or community audiences with an invited guest (e.g. an ex-political prisoner or policy maker), which may be followed by an invitation for the assembled group to carry out some action after the discussion; and 'Debate Lekgotlas', formal facilitated debates with teams presenting each side of an argument.
To learn more about Constitution Hill, now an Institutional Member of the Coalition, visit http://www.constitutionhill.org.za.
Gulag Sites Strive to Build an Anti-Totalitarian Culture in Russia
(March 21-24, 2005)
In Russia today, the need to inspire younger generations to actively engage in protecting their rights and freedoms is pressing, given the rising support for Stalinist-style policies and governance in the current climate of economic disparities and social inequality. This past spring, the Gulag Museum organised a conference to build the capacity of museums and historic sites in Russia and the former Soviet Union to raise public awareness of the history and deadly consequences of totalitarianism, and actively engage its citizens in addressing present-day threats to democracy.
Participants represented 16 different established and emerging museums, as well as research and memorial societies, from former gulag centers and places of common exile for repressed peasants across Russia and Ukraine. Representatives came together in workshops and discussion sessions to explore their sites' potential to develop into Sites of Conscience, the role and function of museum design in promoting dialogue, and common challenges, goals and future possibilities for collaboration. The conference ended with a clear concept of what specific help certain museums require to develop their future activities, a commitment to develop a network of anti-totalitarian museums in Russia, and a plan to develop the Virtual Gulag Museum, a joint on-line project between Memorial Society and Gulag Museum.
Thanks to generous funding from the Open Society Institute, the Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment for Democracy, Coalition Sites are building new networks of Sites of Conscience throughout their regions. By providing opportunities for emerging sites to exchange experience with specific issues, practices and strategies, regional networks will help establish dozens of new centers for dialogue on contemporary human rights issues. The conference in Russia was the first Coalition-sponsored regional activity. Work is already underway on the following additional networks:
- Asian Sites of Conscience: Promoting Cultures of Peace and Pluralism in the Wake of Ethnic and Religious Conflict
- South American Sites of Conscience: Promoting Debate through the Construction of Memory of the Recent Past
- African Sites of Conscience: Using Histories of Citizen Action to Develop Post-Colonial and Post-Conflict Democracies
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Corporación Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi Joins Coalition
(May 30 - June 3, 2005)
After a careful review process, Steering Committee Members welcomed Corporación Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi (Villa Grimaldi Park for Peace Corporation) as a newly Accredited Site of Conscience. Corporación Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi is located at the former site of one of the most important clandestine centers of detention and torture throughout Chile. Approximately 4,500 prisoners were held at the site, 230 of whom disappeared or were executed under the command of the security forces of the Pinochet regime. The site, which soldiers called the "Terranova Barracks", was officially housed in 1974 in the old Vasallo family's house, named "Villa Grimaldi". It functioned as a detention center until 1978, after which the villa served as military intelligence offices until it was burned in attempts to destroy all evidence of its history.
Inaugurated in 1997, "Parque por la Paz" was built as a memorial over the ruins of Villa Grimaldi and provides a public space dedicated to remembering victims of human rights violations; to disseminating information on the history of state terrorism in Chile; to serving as an open space that welcomes people from diverse political, cultural and religious backgrounds; and to promoting a culture of human rights. Visitors to the Park are invited to question the role that each individual actor played during the dictatorship period, and the role that future generations can assume to avoid similar situations in the future, through questions like:
- How can we avoid future human rights violations?
- How can we understand that respect for the lives of others is an inherent value of human nature?
- What can I do to contribute to peace?
The Park places special emphasis on engaging young visitors, inviting them to express their feelings after their visits through written or visual means, as a way for younger generations to develop within an environment of democracy and respect. In collaboration with a broad range of civil society actors, including survivors, family members of those detained/disappeared, human rights and religious groups, political parties and neighbourhood organizations, Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi also organises religious and cultural public events. Villa Grimaldi is currently working with Memoria Abierta to build a regional network of sites remembering state terrorism in South America.
From 11-12 August, 2005, Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi organised its first international seminar, "A Museum for Villa Grimaldi: Space for Memory and Human Rights Education", in conjunction with the Municipality of Peñalolén. Panel discussions explored the question "Why (have) a human rights museum?" from the perspectives of memory and education, examined international experiences from a wide array of museums such as the Anne Frank Foundation, The Netherlands; Center for the History of the Resistance and Deportation, France; United Sates Holocaust Memorial Museum, US; Museo de la Memoria - Rosario, Argentina; National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture, Chile; Recovery of the Surviving Memory, El Salvador; and Coalition Members from Memoria Abierta, Argentina.
For more information on Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi, visit www.villagrimaldicorp.cl.
National Center for Preservation of Democracy Opens Doors for Dialogue
(October 28, 2005)
This fall marks the official opening of the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, an educational institution that partners with educators and community-based mentors to inspire youth to become active, informed participants in shaping democracy in America. The National Center is housed in the former Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, which served as the initial headquarters of the Japanese American National Museum. Built by Japanese immigrants in 1925, the building was the first Buddhist temple constructed in Los Angeles, serving a broad range of community needs as a house of worship, secular social hall and income-producing rental space. A hub of life in thriving Little Tokyo, the structure was later used to store the belongings of Japanese Americans illegally forced by the government to leave their homes and businesses to live in U.S. concentration camps during World War II.
The National Center explores the largely untold stories of culturally and ethnically diverse individuals and communities that have contributed to and strengthened American democracy, despite encountering many obstacles. With these stories as the backdrop, the National Center works with middle and high school teachers as well as community-based mentors to provide young people with the tools they need to become active participants in a democratic society, whether this be through voting, community volunteerism, or public service. More information on the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, practical tools for educators, and programs and events can be found on http://www.ncdemocracy.org.
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What Comes After: Cities, Art and Recovery, New York City, US
(September 8-11, 2005)
What is the relationship of memory and forgetting to the recovery of daily life after trauma? How are the arts of memory - museums, memorials, archives - sentinels of the future, and how do art and culture return meaning to places of devastation? Join the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council as they explore these questions and more in the first of two international summits focused on the arts and culture after catastrophe. Artists, performers, writers, architects, lawyers, scholars, activists, community and political leaders from a range of contexts that have been directly affected and transformed by violence will gather in downtown New York City for a public exchange of stories, strategies, ideas and memories. Through roundtable discussions, performances, films, and arts installations, participants will consider how people remember and rebuild after tragedy, and how the arts have been crucial to such recovery. Presenters include Patricia Tappatá de Valdez from Memoria Abierta, speaking on "Remembrance, Repetition, Residue". For more details on this event, visit http://www.lmcc.net/recovery.
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Common Ground: The Japanese American National Museum and the Culture of Collaborations
Los Angeles's Japanese American National Museum, established in 1992, remains the only museum dedicated to sharing the story of Americans of Japanese ancestry. It is also unique in its approach to collaborating with other institutions, museums, researchers, audiences, and funders. Edited by Akemi Kikumura-Yano, Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, and James A. Hirabayashi, Common Ground provides a collection of 17 essays with case studies exploring collaborations between the Japanese American National Museum and community-oriented partners in order to document, interpret, and present their histories and experiences, and provide a new understanding of what museums can and should be in the United States.
Current scholarship in museum studies is generally limited to interpretations by scholars and curators. "Common Ground" brings descriptive data to the intellectual canon and illustrates how museum institutions must be transformed and recreated to suit the needs of the twenty-first century. "Common Ground" is now available at bookstores across the United States and on the Web at http://www.upcolorado.com and http://shop.store.yahoo.com/janm.
Teaching the Japanese American Experience: An Educator's Tool Kit
The Japanese American National Museum has recently published a CD-ROM containing lesson plans about the Japanese American experience for elementary, middle and high school students. It represents the culmination of many years of work and was made possible through generous funding by The Boeing Company.
The Tool Kit is free with only a $5.00 shipping/handling charge. It is available on a first-come, first-served basis, with a limit of one Tool Kit per school. Please visit http://www.janm.org/about/depts/education/toolkit.php for more details.
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Mednoye Memorial Complex, Russia
In Mednoye, a town in the Tver region north of Moscow where people of diverse nationalities lived together, thousands of Polish and Russian prisoners were killed by Soviet Communist Secret Police (NKVD) in mass executions during the 1940s. Viewed as threats to national security, many Poles and Russians were arrested, imprisoned, and executed. At the height of this hysteria, some citizens turned against each other and identified "suspicious" people to the authorities, only later to become victims themselves. All victims were buried together at a mass burial site in Mednoye. Until 1989, when the NKVD archives were opened, the Soviet government had blamed Nazi Germany for the executions.
Today, the Mednoye Memorial Complex delves into this intricate history and the difficult experience of individuals under totalitarian regimes by providing memorial exhibits, public events and activities that commemorate the victims and explore issues of political repression. In a school program called "My Genealogy", young adults explore their families' exposure to political repression in the 1930s through interviews with relatives and research obtained from State archives. Staff from the Complex hold interactive discussions with students whose relatives' records were uncovered, and students write essays about their families' experience as victims of repression. A museum is scheduled to open on site in 2005, with plans to organise public debates, sociological surveys, and conferences with community organizations and civil defence organizations in order to promote dialogue surrounding human rights issues such as genocide, totalitarianism and democracy. For more information on this emerging site, a new Institutional Member of the Coalition, please contact Yelena Obratsova at e.obrazcova@mail.ru.
Museo de la Memoria - Rosario, Argentina
The Museo de la Memoria - Rosario (Museum of Memory - Rosario) was founded in 2001 in the city of Rosario, Argentina, to contribute to an awareness of what occurred in the country during the last military dictatorship (1976-1983), and to advance the investigation and dissemination of information about human rights violations committed by the Argentine State, while promoting the protection of present-day civil liberties. As of July 2006, the Museum will be housed at the former headquarters of the Army Second Command, which functioned as the central base for military operations and the implementation of terror amongst citizens of Rosario, and was used as the administrative base for formulating policies of persecution and extermination in the city and throughout six central and coastal Argentine provinces during the dictatorship. The site is emblematic in the history of Rosario in this period: hundreds of family members and spouses would line up outside the doors of the Command to appeal for information about the disappearance of their loved ones.
In order to provide the public with multiple perspectives and the opportunity for dialogue on the many difficult issues raised at their site, Museo de la Memoria provides guided tours of sites associated with state terrorism in Rosario that encourage visitors to openly reflect on their conceptions of that historic period; organizes public panels and discussion roundtables; hosts book launches for publications dedicated to the period of the last dictatorship; and coordinates annual conferences for teachers and education professionals, providing classroom tools that can be used to transmit the history and significance of the dictatorship in Argentine society. Museo de la Memoria is also collaborating with Memoria Abierta and Corporación Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi to develop the capacity of regional sites remembering state terrorism in South America. Visit http://www.rosario.gov.ar/sitio/lugares_disfrutar/museomemoria/museomemoria1.jsp to learn more about this new Institutional Member of the Coalition.
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Matters of Conscience is supported in part by the Open Society Institute and the Ford Foundation. |
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