Anti-Monuments and other alternative forms of remembering and commemorating various social struggles, play an important role in Mexico. Anti-Monuments in public space symbolize the resistance to forgetting and are thus regarded as a medium to reflect on social struggles past and present, to demand clarification, to keep the memory of events and victims alive and to initiate (social) change.
This series of events focuses on Anti-Monuments and memory practices as an expression of disparate social struggles and as an intervention in public space to create collective consciousness.
The Dispersed Memorial
The Dispersed Memorial, designed and created by Sergio Beltrán-García and Rodrigo da Silva, responds to the growing demand from victims of human rights violations who insist on their right to memory by proposing a low-cost, modular, and self-constructed memorial with the help of mixed-reality technologies.
In its first phase, the prototype of the Dispersed Memorial takes shape as a piece of urban furniture. On this occasion, it is specially dedicated to those whom we said goodbye to during the COVID-19 pandemic. Goethe-Institut Mexiko was able to take part in the creation of one of the memorial’s first prototypes.
When received as a low-cost, do-it-yourself molding kit, the Dispersed Memorial can be built without much difficulty and in a short time. www.memorialdisperso.com
Remembering Communities in Resistance and Keeping Their Memory Alive
Artist and activist Thalia Fernández Bustamante and Lizbeth Hernández Cruz engaged in a conversation about the defense of land and territory, memory, and ways of documenting these types of struggles.
On Memorials as Spaces for Truth, Reconciliation, and Dialogue
Artist and activist Sergio Beltrán-García and attorney of law Paola Zavala Saeb go into depth on the topic of memory, the right to memory, and how to use it as an entry point for the non-repetition of human rights violations.
Memory and expression of different social struggles in public spaces
Veka Duncan, Eunice Hernández, Jorge Gálvez, Mariana Grediaga und José Ignacio Lanzagorta go into detail on the subject of memory, debating about the tension between memory and oblivion and exploring ways of expressing the memory of different social struggles in the public space.
Unconference: The memory of social struggles and their reappropriation of public spaces
In Mexico, there are anti-monuments and a number of different memory practices for remembering different social struggles, both past and present. These forms of commemorating symbolize the resistance to oblivion and keep the memory of the events and victims alive.
In collaboration with Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco, Goethe-Institut Mexiko held a digital “Unconference.” It was a gathering for all those interested in the subject of remembering and commemorating social struggles in public spaces, with a particular focus on three current social struggles.
Memory and the Struggle against Violence against Women
A group of participants debated and exchanged ideas about the social struggle against violence against women. There was discussion on the past, present, and future of ways of remembering and ways of raising awareness. With Isabel Vericat & Jahel López Guerrero.
Memory of the Struggle for Justice and the Clarification of Enforced Disappearance
Should memory console us and contribute to a healing process? Or, rather, should it cause discomfort and disturb us? These were some of the themed questions among the group that focused on debating about memory in relation to enforced disappearance in Mexico. With Sergio Beltrán-García & Anne Huffschmid.
Memory and the Struggle for the Defense of Territory and Cultural Heritage
“An archive is necessary to generate discourses from communities.” Another group of participants focused on forms of memory in relation to the struggle for the defense of land and territory and cultural heritage, emphasizing the importance of projects that serve as reminders for doing justice. With Thalia Fernández Bustamante & Jimena Jaso Guzmán.
