On July 21, 1996, the City of Buenos Aires passed Law 46, officially establishing the Parque de la Memoria project and creating the first state-funded monument of its kind. This law included a provision for an international sculpture contest whose winners would form the Monument to the Victims of State Terrorism. A commission comprised of city officials, architects, and representatives of human rights organizations solicited submissions, receiving over 660 entries from forty-four countries. A jury selected a total of seventeen entries, and these sculptures are placed at selected sites throughout the park, which was inaugurated on November 7, 2007.

In addition to the sculptures, the park includes the Access Plaza, walls of victims’ names, and landscaped grounds. While many of the Park’s features are on display and open to the public, other parts of the Park are currently under construction.

As Brigitte Sion writes, the park is “a piece of land with paths that can only be appreciated by walking on them. Both the sculptures in the garden and especially the wall of names are meant to be touched, felt through the body. The wish to ‘see and touch’ has been expressed repeatedly by relatives of the Desaparecidos, and these sensory functions gain a symbolic dimension in the case of victims whose bodies have been robbed from the sight and ownership of their dear ones.”

References

Parque de la Memoria, official site.
External Link

Sion, Brigitte. 2007. “Affective Memory, Ineffective Functionality: Experiencing Buenos Aires’ Parque de la Memoria.” Hemispheric Institute, 2007.
External Link

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As is the case with most historical events, episodes of state violence and atrocity can be difficult to explain as single narratives. Causes and outcomes are often complex and contested…

References

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, official site
External Link

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Design of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum

References

^* Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, official site
External Link

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Tuol Sleng has been instrumental in the creation of a master narrative of the past that legitimizes Cambodia’s current ruling party and projects the aura of a unified national identity. But the average, everyday Cambodian was entirely detached from the design of the museum. The involvement of Vietnam––as an invading force and historical adversary––in the creation of Tuol Sleng has instilled a sense of suspicion in many Cambodians, who often view the museum as inauthentic.

As Andreas Huyssen writes, the museum can seem to replicate the dehumanization of the Khmer Rouge, in the sense that the nameless photographs of the victims echo “the violent voiding of identity that was the torturers’ explicit goal and always preceded disappearance.” Paul Williams notes that by exhaustively detailing the Khmer Rouge’s favored torture tactics, Tuol Sleng focuses on remembering the perpetrators, not the victims.

References

This essay was adapted in part from this article: Moore, Lisa. “Recovering the Past, Remembering Trauma: The Politics of Commemoration at Sites of Atrocity.” Journal of Public and International Affairs, Princeton: Princeton University, Spring, 2009.

Huyssen, Andreas. Present Pasts: Urban Palimpsests and the Politics of Memory. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003.

Williams, Paul. “The Atrocity Exhibition: Touring Cambodian Genocide Memorials.” In On Display: New Essays in Cultural Studies, edited by A. Smith and Wevers, 197-214. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2004.

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Design of Tuol Sleng

After taking control of Cambodia in 1979, the Vietnamese, seeking to legitimize their unpopular occupation, quickly capitalized upon Tuol Sleng’s propaganda potential. They enlisted Mai Lam, a Vietnamese colonel turned museologist, to archive the contents and transform the site into a memorial within a year’s time. To research his design, Mai Lam visited the Holocaust concentration camps of Europe. The resulting museum deliberately borrowed imagery from the Holocaust museums in an effort to conflate the Khmer Rouge with the Nazis. He highlighted Tuol Sleng’s most gruesome elements, an approach that culminated in a huge map of Cambodia made from the actual skulls of victims, its rivers painted blood red. (The map was dismantled in 2002.) As Judy Ledgerwood writes, the Vietnamese narrative of Tuol Sleng is one of a “glorious revolution stolen and perverted by a handful of sadistic, genocidal traitors who deliberately exterminated three million of their countrymen. The true heirs to the revolutionary movement overthrew this murderous tyranny…just in time to save the Khmer people from genocide.”

Tuol Sleng’s most famous feature is the display, across several rooms, of thousands of anonymous photographs of the victims of S-21. Khmer Rouge photographer Nhem En took these photos as mug shots when the prisoners were admitted. When the museum was finally opened to the general public, relatives of the victims were prohibited from inscribing the photographs with the victims’ names.

Visitors can also view the preserved artifacts of the prison as left by the Khmer Rouge in 1979, including metal beds, crude brick cells, group shackles, and torture instruments. Mai Lam’s original design and signage now coexist with thoughtful new installations presented by the Documentation Center of Cambodia, including essays and photo exhibits.

References

This essay was adapted in part from this article: Moore, Lisa. “Recovering the Past, Remembering Trauma: The Politics of Commemoration at Sites of Atrocity.” Journal of Public and International Affairs, Princeton: Princeton University, Spring, 2009.

Ledgerwood, Judy. “The Cambodian Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocidal Crimes: National Narrative.” Museum Anthropology 21, no. 1 (1997): 82-98.

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Some Cambodians have made the objection that the preservation and presentation of skulls in Choeung Ek’s stupa violates Buddhist custom. In an appeal for the cremation of the human remains displayed at Choeung Ek and Tuol Sleng, the former King Norodom Sihanouk decried what he perceived to be the political use of human remains, saying that he was “trying to lay to rest not just the souls of the dead, but the deep divisions between the coalition partners in the new royal government – those placed in power by Vietnamese ‘liberators’ and those who fought a war of ‘liberation’ against Vietnamese ‘occupation.’” Other Cambodians argue that the skulls present no conflict with Buddhist teachings, and insist that their presentation is part of an essential historical record.

In the context of this debate, it is important to examine the popularity of Choeung Ek as a tourist site. Why do so many tourists come to Choeung Ek? Are they motivated by a morbid interest in the site’s blunt display of skulls and raw open graves? Are they genuinely interested in confronting and understanding what happened in Cambodia? Or are they drawn by a complicated combination of motivations?

References

This essay was adapted in part from this article: Moore, Lisa. “Recovering the Past, Remembering Trauma: The Politics of Commemoration at Sites of Atrocity.” Journal of Public and International Affairs, Princeton: Princeton University, Spring, 2009.

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Design of Choeung Ek

Choeung Ek is a large site, about the size of a soccer field, and is surrounded by farmland. The centerpiece of the site, a 62-meter concrete and plexiglass stupa, displays over 5,000 human skulls. During the day, the lower levels of the stupa are left open to give visitors an unobstructed view of the skulls, many of which have been shattered or smashed. Behind the stupa, visitors can walk freely around a series of partially exhumed mass graves, in which over 8,000 victims were buried. When it rains heavily, shards of human bones and scraps of the clothing worn by the victims sometimes surface in the walkways around the graves.

Under the direction of the Japanese company JC Royal, the current administrators of the site are constructing a new visitors' center where films will be shown. The company also helped construct the first paved road leading from Phnom Penh to Choeung Ek. As of this writing, however, the site itself is largely unchanged, including the original signage created decades ago by the Vietnamese designers. The site also features a gift shop where books and typical Cambodian souvenirs are sold.

References

This essay was adapted in part from this article: Moore, Lisa. “Recovering the Past, Remembering Trauma: The Politics of Commemoration at Sites of Atrocity.” Journal of Public and International Affairs, Princeton: Princeton University, Spring, 2009.

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Design of Comarca Balide

After independence, Timor-Leste’s Association of Ex-Political Prisoners (ASEPPOL) assumed guardianship of Comarca Balide. In April 2002, ASEPPOL agreed to give CAVR use of the building throughout its mandate, and suggested that the building be turned into “a center for the promotion of human rights and reconciliation in East Timor.”

The Japanese government helped fund CAVR’s move into the former prison. A Timorese company, PT Rosario, run by Julio Alfaro, a former political prisoner, managed the reconstruction of the site. On February 17, 2003, former president Xanana Gusmão inaugurated the rehabilitated Comarca Balide. “As you know, this building was formerly a prison for the detention of political prisoners,” Gusmão told the audience of thousands. “It has undergone a transformation to become a human rights center. The work of the CAVR aims also to facilitate a transformation from trauma to peace of heart. The CAVR does not only search for the truth but seeks to facilitate transformation in the society from trauma to peace.”

The designers preserved over sixty-five graffiti markings made by East Timorese prisoners or their Indonesian prison guards, and erected a large traditional meeting space in the prison’s former exercise courtyard. Additionally, a woman who had been detained in the prison with her mother when she was a child planted gardens within the courtyard space. Upon completion of the construction and rebuilding, a traditional cleansing ceremony was conducted to symbolically remove the spirits associated with the site’s history of abuse and violence. Later, during the tenure of the CAVR, the Comarca site was used to host public hearings, healing workshops, and other cathartic activities.

References

Comissão de Acolhimento, Verdade e Reconciliação de Timor-Leste (CAVR), official website
External Link

International Center for Transitional Justice: Report on CAVR
External Link

Waddingham, John “Archives in Timor-Leste: Impressions from a Visit to East Timor, May 2003.” The CHART Project.
External Link

USAID-Timor-Leste. “Programs Highlight: Democracy and Governance.”
External Link

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In her study of Oradour-sur-Glane, Martyred Village, Sarah Farmer notes the “inherent impossibility” of freezing memory by attempting to preserve the burned-out ruins, decade after decade. “Over time, rain has washed white the blackened remains of Oradour, and the jagged walls have crumbled under the impact of frost and thaw. Though workmen repair the ruins and cut back ivy and nettles, decay and new growth threaten to change Oradour from a scene of horror into a melancholy, even romantic vista. Just as memory is continually reworked and reorganized, memorial sites never stand still.” Should natural change over time--a gradual healing of ruin-- be seen as part of the memorial site? Or should the site's curators strive to preserve the original ruins as much as possible, defying nature in a call for remembrance?

References

Farmer, Sarah Bennett. Martyred Village: Commemorating the 1944 Massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.

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Design of Oradour-sur-Glane

The victims of Oradour-sur-Glane are buried in a cemetery to the north of the village, where a tall column flanked by ossuaries memorializes the dead. Along the rear wall of the cemetery are ten black tablets inscribed with the names of the 642 people who perished. The identifiable victims were buried in family plots. The bones of the unidentified were interred in several areas, including ossuaries on either side of the main column of the memorial. These ossuaries also contain bone fragments from other execution sites in the general area.

The Centre de la Mémoire, a museum and visitors’ center for Oradour-sur-Glane, opened in May 1999. Yves Devraine, working with architects Jean-Louis Marty and Antonio Carrilero, designed and landscaped the Center, which is located near the village. Devraine designed the building to blend in with its surroundings; it was built into the side of a small valley, and a river is reflected in its glass façade. The façade is interrupted by metal blades, which symbolize the violence suffered by the villagers of Oradour.

Visitors can enter the cemetery and walk around the old village, which has been preserved as it was after its destruction in 1944. There are no guides for the village; visitors are invited to wander through the ruins and come to their own conclusions. The site is maintained through a partnership among the Conseil General, the Rector of the Academy of Limoges, and the Centre de la Mémoire.

References

Centre de la mémoire, Oradour-sur-Glane, official site.
External Link

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References

Bickford, Louis. “Monuments and memory.” International Herald Tribune, November 19, 2007.

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Design of Herbert Baum Gedenkstein

The Herbert Baum Gedenkstein, as it was designed by Jürgen Raue in its original form, consists of a small stone cube with inscriptions on each of its four sides. “Bound in friendship with the Soviet Union forever,” it reads in large block letters. “Unforgotten the courageous deeds and the steadfastness of the anti-fascist resistance group led by the young Communist Herbert Baum.”

The two Plexiglas plaques, installed in 2001, add a new layer of history. One plaque lists the thirty-four members of the Herbert Baum Group. The other gives more information about the Baum Group in German, English, French, and Russian, stating in part that the memorial “documents the brave act of resistance in 1942, the conception of history in 1981, and our continuous remembrance of resistance to the Nazis.”

References

Bickford, Louis. “Monuments and memory.” International Herald Tribune, November 19, 2007.

Jordan, Jennifer A. Structures of Memory. Stanford University Press, 2006: 73-75.

Schafft, Gretchen. “Civic Denial and the Memory of War.” Journal of American Academy of Psychoanalysis 26 (1998): 255-272.

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How important is it for memorials to preserve the physical remains of the events they commemorate? Within this question lies another: if it is beneficial to preserve the original elements of a site, should they be preserved as they are, in varying states of decay or ruin, or reconstructed to their original form? Indeed, in the field of historic preservation there has long been debate over the relative merits of preservation and restoration.

Villa Grimaldi, in Chile, serves as a useful example of how these issues apply specifically to memorial sites that commemorate state violence and mass atrocity. By the time it was decided that Villa Grimaldi should be converted into a site of memory, there was little left to preserve; in an effort to erase the evidence of torture, the government had demolished much of the site by the end of 1988. Ultimately, designers at the site chose to reconstruct the central torture site, but as a bare, oren area, omitting the actual tools of torture.

Designers at other sites have faced similar challenges. In Morocco, for instance, the question of reconstruction is currently being discussed, as the state Equity and Reconciliation Commission has recommended that several former torture sites be converted into sites of memory.

There is no single answer to these questions, and differing contexts undoubtedly present different demands. But how should we begin to think about the relationship between preservation and restoration as it applies to public memorialization, especially as former sites of torture are increasingly being converted into sites of memory?

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Design for Villa Grimaldi Park for Peace

Villa Grimaldi Park for Peace consists of a 10,200-square-meter green space crossed by two intersecting paths that lead to a wall inscribed with the names of victims. Designed by Ana Cristina Torrealba, Jose Luis Gajardo, and Luis Santibóez, the park is meant to evoke spiritual thought and honor the memory of the victims. According to the site’s literature, the park “symbolizes the end and the condemnation of a sinister past, and also the beginning of a new stage in the life and the coexistence between all people of Chile.”

Pedro Matta, a former detainee at Villa Grimaldi who was deeply involved in discussions with other victims on what to do with the site, described their process: “The group was divided in their opinions: part of the group wanted to rebuild the former torture center as it was during the time of its functioning (which proved to be impossible because there was not enough funding to do that); another part wanted to demolish everything that remained there and to build a beautiful park to the memory of those who disappeared or were killed at the site, and finally, another group, in which I counted myself, proposed that all the artifacts and buildings that were not destroyed by the dictatorship should be preserved for the memory of this country and a park should be built around them. This was the proposition that was finally approved.”

References

Corporación Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi.
External Link

Baxter, Victoria. "Civil Society Promotion of Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation in Chile: Villa Grimaldi." Peace & Change 30, no. 1 (January 2005): 120-136.

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Given the timing of its inauguration, in July 2002, and its location, just blocks from the World Trade Center, the Irish Hunger Memorial was initially viewed by many visitors though the lens of the September 11 attacks. While under construction, the memorial even played a small role in the 9/11 recovery effort: rescue workers at Ground Zero borrowed the memorial’s earth-moving equipment for their work. Writing in The New York Times, Roberta Smith said that the memorial “arrived at a time when Americans, especially young Americans, have a deeper understanding of tragedy and grief, of fate’s capriciousness and of the complexities of power.”

Today, the Irish Hunger Memorial is more likely to be seen in its own context, and what comes across is its clear intention to link past and future. Although it specifically (and beautifully) evokes 19th century Ireland, it is, in the same way that mass atrocity memorials often are, aimed at preventing future atrocities––in this case, famines.

The inscriptions around the base of the memorial, which refer to various and diverse facts about famine and hunger, indicate that the memorial exists not merely to dwell in sadness over a specific event, but to send a forward-looking message and provoke thought about a current and relevant socio-economic problem.

References

Smith, Roberta. “Critic's Notebook; A Memorial Remembers The Hungry.” New York Times, July 16, 2002.

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Design of Irish Hunger Memorial

The artist Brian Tolle and the landscape architect Gail Wittwer-Laird designed the Irish Hunger Memorial. It consists of a half-acre of land, with 32 stones from the counties of Ireland and 62 species of Irish flora grown from native seeds. One-quarter of the acre is planted with clover in fallow potato ridges to symbolize the empty potato harvests of the 1840s. The quarter acre refers to the clauses that Sir William Gregory added to the Poor Law of 1847: it stipulated that any person occupying a quarter acre of land was not eligible for government relief.

Approaching the site from the north, visitors enter a tunnel that brings them to a reconstructed cottage. This roofless two-room 1820 house, donated by the Slack family of Attymass, County Mayo, was taken apart stone by stone in Ireland, transported across the Atlantic, and reassembled in New York.

The landscape is supported on a base of polished limestone from Kilkenny, engraved with 110 quotations from legislations, letters, memoirs, parliamentary reports, proverbs, recipes, songs and statistics all oriented around the subject of hunger.

References

“Public Art: Memorials, Irish Hunger Memorial.” Battery Park City Authority.

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Unfortunately, however, the Quilt has not represented all groups equally. In February 2008, Essence magazine reported that, among the 47,000 panels included as part of the Quilt, fewer than 400 honor Black people.² Responding to this iniquity, the foundation responsible for managing the project has made efforts to create more panels for African-Americans. Indeed it is vitally important that the quilt be as inclusive as possible in representing the victims of AIDS. In order to inspire political action, the memorial must endeavor to unite different groups around common commitments.

References

¹ Interview with Cleve Jones. Frontline, PBS, May 30, 2006.
External Link

² “Our News.” Essence, February 2008: 123.

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Design of Aids Memorial Quilt

The inspiration for the AIDS Memorial Quilt came during a 1985 remembrance march for the former Mayor and City Supervisor of San Francisco, George Moscone and Harvey Milk respectively, both of whom had been assassinated. Cleve Jones, an activist, asked participants in the march to write the names of AIDS victims they had known on pieces of paper, and then taped them to the outside of the San Francisco Federal Building. The resemblance to a quilt inspired Jones, alongside Michael Smith, to begin the AIDS Memorial Quilt project in 1987.

“I was just overwhelmed by the need to find a way to grieve together for our loved ones who had died so horribly, and also to try to find the weapon that would break through the stupidity and the bigotry and all of the cruel indifference that even today hampers our response,” Jones told PBS. “I thought, what a perfect symbol; what a warm, comforting, middle-class, middle-American, traditional-family-values symbol to attach to this disease that’s killing homosexuals and IV drug users and Haitian immigrants, and maybe, just maybe, we could apply those traditional family values to my family.”

References

Interview with Cleve Jones. Frontline, PBS, May 30, 2006.
External Link

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