“Power, Equity, Memory, Erasure: Memorials and the Making of Historic Narrative” at Harvard GSD

Recent debates on such political and cultural phenomena as Confederate monuments or the erasure of cultural artifacts have put into high relief the role of memorials as a statement of hegemony, raising questions as: Who controls the historic narrative? What is the purpose of commemoration: to mourn, to celebrate, to inspire, to subjugate? Are traditional forms of commemorative inspiration latently coercive? Central to the discussion is the definition of identity at the individual, social group, and national level, and how is this identity reinforced or challenged by a memorial? Are certain memorial typologies or design languages inherently inclusive or hegemonic? And are there new forms of commemoration—digital, ephemeral, changeable—that speak more equitably to a collective experience? Power, Equity, Memory & Erasure: Memorials and the Making of Historical Narratives addresses the possibilities of a more equitable statement of collective consciousness, involving a multiplicity of responses that encourage dialogue rather than fixed statements about the past.

Session Leads:

• David A. Rubin, FASLA, FAAR, Founding Principal, DAVID RUBIN Land Collective
• Thomas Luebke, FAIA, Secretary, U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, Washington DC
• Kristina Yu, Architect, Educator, McClain+Yu Architecture and Design, University of New Mexico
• Peter Coombe, AIA, Principal, Sage and Coombe Architects, GSD Alumni Council Chair

Speakers:

• C. Brian Rose, James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology, Professor of Classical Studies, University of Pennsylvania
• Justin Garrett Moore, Program Officer, Humanities in Place at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
• Dell Upton, Professor Emeritus of Architecture, UC Berkeley and Professor and Chair of Art History at UCLA