Send message to Author

Short abstract

This paper explores unwriting and memory activism, examining the site-based work of Palestinian choreographer Shaden Abu Elasal and the dance ethnographer’s praxis. Through performances of Palestinian women dancing in modern local cities, Abu Elasal retrieves memory and reclaims space and history.

Long abstract

Manar Hasan employed the term “memoricide” in reference to the 1948 war and the process by which the destruction of the Palestinian cities obliterated from collective consciousness not only the cities but also the women who once lived and played highly visible roles within them. This paper enters into conversation with Hasan’s argument through an exploration of the site-based work of Palestinian choreographer Shaden Abu Elasal as memory activism and a form of unwriting Zionist constructions of space and memory, and my role as a dance ethnographer and activist in documenting, interpreting and theorizing her work. I show how by reintroducing specifically Palestinian women dancers as elements of “flesh and stone” of urban settings, Abu Elasal resurrects both the city and the women, revealing the obscured and retrieving the forgotten. Within the ongoing struggle in Israel/Palestine over narrative, memory and consciousness, and within a political climate that denies, silences and censors expressions of collective Palestinian identity, Abu Elasal employs dance as a nonverbal means of expression and presence, free from the chains and risks of language. Finally, in turning the lens to my own practice of writing moving bodies, I suggest that this minute praxis gives form and structure to experience – in this case Abu Elasal’s simultaneous rerooting and uprooting, reentering and transcending the land through dances that serve to reinforce Palestinian presence and identity.

Send message to Author

Short abstract

This paper looks at the mnemonic practices of the far-right in Germany on social media platforms, particularly on Instagram. The contribution aims at examining how digital platforms are leveraged to construct, disseminate, and normalize contested historical narratives.

Long abstract

Memory activism is not exclusively used to promote pluralised histories or to foster democratic interpretations of the past for the present. Far-right groups also engage in past-presencing to advance their own values (Macdonald 2012, Bevernage et al. 2024). Building upon empirical case studies, this paper looks at the mnemonic practices of the far-right in Germany on social media platforms, particularly on Instagram. The contribution aims to examine how digital platforms are leveraged to construct, disseminate, and normalize contested historical narratives. Far-right groups use visual, textual, and symbolic content here in a particular way to engage in memory activism to shape collective memory and identity. These actors reinterpret Germany's past, invoking nationalist myths, glorifying selective historical episodes, and challenging established narratives of guilt and reconciliation tied to World War II and the Holocaust (Valencia-García 2020). The platform’s visual and interactive affordances, including stories, reels, and hashtags, enable the curation of affectively charged and easily shareable content that resonates with diverse audiences. Through a mixed-methods approach combining digital ethnography and content analysis, the research highlights the interplay between nostalgia, visual culture, and far-right ideology in a digital age.

Send message to Author

Short abstract

Through the case-study of the Residents’ Assembly ‘No Metro at Exarchia Square’ the paper examines how memory of past resistance becomes implicated in struggles against gentrification and eviction, combining work from memory activism with anthropological research on haunting and resistance.

Long abstract

In the 21st century gentrification has shifted from a local phenomenon in some Western contexts, to a global strategy of interurban competition, leading to mass evictions of working class and minority residents across the world. In the limited research available on resistance to gentrification, few studies have emphasized the role of memory in struggles over staying put and against the erasure of cultural and politically-sensitive geographies. Building on recent work that attempts to combine the field of memory studies with social movement research, as well as on seminal work on haunting in relation to resistance in anthropology, this paper will explore the memory practices of the Residents’ Assembly ‘No Metro at Exarchia Square’, in the neighbourhood of Exarchia, in Athens, Greece. The assembly struggles for the right to stay put and for the preservation of the neighbourhood’s central public space, threatened by the development of a new metro line, that has been symbolic of former and present counter-establishment struggles against dictatorship and police brutality. The paper will examine how these resident-activists’ resistance effectively constitutes a struggle against, as they say ‘the erasure of memory’, but will also examine the role ‘inspirational hauntings’ (Yonucu, 2023) play in such struggle and in broader efforts to form counter-publics in moments of extensive neoliberal appropriation. In this sense the paper aims to connect anthropological research on haunting with studies in memory activism, and place such phenomena within broader urban struggles over public space and against eviction which form quintessential struggles of our current times.

Send message to Authors

Short abstract

The current project explores the almost unnoticed joint history of the Volkskundemuseum in Vienna and the bunker in the neighbouring public park. Planned visual and acoustic interventions on-site, e.g., aim to make this massive structure of war and threat – which has become increasingly invisible – publicly recognisable and worth remembering.

Long abstract

Following the logic of aerial warfare, massive war buildings with protective purposes, such as bunkers, need to be invisible. The bunker in Vienna's Schönbornpark was built as part of the ‘Führer-Sofort-Programme’ ordered by the NS regime. After 1945 this building ‘disappeared’ even more into the surrounding and was made imperceptible for park visitors. This invisibility seems to be symbolic for the uses after the war – to forget about the relating war and NS past. Unclear ownership and responsibilities were just another sign, such as the desires for new utilisations.

From the late 1940s onwards the management of Volkskundemuseum Wien saw potential for expansion in the spacious bunker in the direct neighbourhood and therefore it was developed. There has never been consideration on the original use of the building – neither by the museum nor by the city.

With the ongoing project ‘MASSIVELY INVISIBLE’, the Volkskundemuseum Wien has set itself the task of reflecting on the invisibility of this building contaminated by ideology and violence. In our contribution we want to discuss various politics of memory, and the hitherto largely unquestioned fact that active memory repression and oblivion have ‘happened’. The projects intention is to make the past and ongoing processes transparent, comprehensible and accessible at any time – both on-site as well as online. The intended interventions and the additional information are supposed to create a lasting reminder about the bunker, its original function and its history with the museum and the city.

Send message to Author

Short abstract

By approaching the recent attack on the Elias Lönnrot statue in Helsinki as an example of memory activism, the paper explores how memory, temporality, and (in)justice, and themes related to colonialism, WWII, and Karelianness, were reflected in the public discussions surrounding the intervention.

Long abstract

Elias Lönnrot (1802–1884) was a physician, philologist, linguist, collector of oral poetry, and the creator of the Kalevala (1835/1849), the national epic of Finland. The bronze statue of Lönnrot, created by Emil Wikström, was erected and unveiled in the center of Helsinki in 1902. In August 2024, the statue of Elias Lönnrot was attacked. Red paint resembling blood was splattered on the statue, dripping from Lönnrot’s pen, and letters inscribed with the word “KOLONIALISTI” appeared on it. Very soon, it was noted that an anonymous collective of Karelian activists, Ruškiemustu, had published a statement highlighting that, instead of being celebrated, the Kalevala should be recognized as a symbol of the long-lasting oppression of the Karelians for the purposes of Finnish nationalism. Subsequently, a short-lived public discussion about the intervention began. In my presentation, I will approach the attack on Lönnrot’s statue as an example of memory activism. By analyzing the activists’ statement regarding the attack, the ensuing media discussion, and contextualizing these within the broader mnemonic resources and gaps related to Karelia and Karelianness in Finland, I will explore the negotiations surrounding memory, temporality, and social (in)justice reflected in these discussions. I will analyze how themes related to colonialism, World War II, and Karelianness, as raised by Ruškiemustu in their statement, were reflected in public discourse.

Send message to Author

Short abstract

In Argentina, feminist and gender-divergent groups use living archives like Ni Una Menos (2017) to challenge dominant memory narratives, address gender-based violence, and collectivize mourning for femicides. These projects reframe history, reclaim public space, and confront historical and contemporary violence.

Long abstract

The issue of memory in Argentina is situated within a context of sociopolitical struggles deeply influenced by human rights movements. These struggles have radically altered the way the nation understands its past, positioning archives and artistic activism at the heart of the construction of a dynamic collective memory. Feminist and gender-divergent groups have been key actors in this reconfiguration, re-centering the narratives of marginalized groups within the memory discourse. We explore these issues through the living archive project Ni Una Menos (2017), which embodies the movement against gender-based violence, triggering collective awareness and massive mobilizations. This living archive project (Bourcier, 2020) also serves as a means of collectivizing mourning in relation to femicides, ensuring that women are not forgotten and preventing dominant discourses from overshadowing emotional narratives. Through collective and artistic actions, groups and various actors challenge dominant narratives and oppose often-naturalized forms of violence, re-appropriating public space and making visible memories and bodies that have long been stigmatized, especially during the military dictatorship of Videla (1976-1983). The creation of archives such as the Proyecto Ni Una Menos or the Archivo de la Memoria Trans (2014) revitalizes the activist strategies of the 1990s in Argentina, denouncing present-day issues. We will propose an analysis of the creation of living archives and their circulation as a form of collective mourning.