Track 5: New Heritage Imperatives: Inclusion, Renewal and Expanding Relevance

CS5.1 Maamiikwendan: How to Create Space for Indigenous Narratives and Commemoration

Commemorating Difficult Pasts: Negotiating Monuments in the 21st Century

On-Demand

Speaker(s)

Trina Cooper-Bolam

Independent Museology/Critical Heritage Scholar & Exhibition Curator/Designer

Session Chair(s)

Raymond Frogner

Head of Archives, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation

Trina Cooper-Bolam will present examples of 6 counter-monuments/memorials that reflect international tendencies influencing contemporary commemorations that reference traumatic histories. These examples speak to trends in commemoration with respect to 1) form and expression, 2) function and performativity, and 3) public expectations. Relatedly, Cooper-Bolam will briefly discuss emerging social-justice-oriented processes by which such commemorations are increasingly produced. This brief survey is intended to provide international examples, specifically those deployed by Indigenous, racialized, and marginalized communities, to inform approaches to the commemoration of difficult histories and their legacies in Canada.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion, paricipant will be able to speak to new issues of form and expression in Indigenous commemoration of trauma.
Upon completion, paricipant will be able to discuss function and performativity in collective Indigenous commemoration.
Upon completion, paricipant will be able to discuss emerging social-justice-oriented processes by which such commemorations are increasingly produced.
Upon completion, paricipant will be able to provide international examples, specifically those deployed by Indigenous, racialized, and marginalized communities, to inform approaches to the commemoration of difficult histories and their legacies in Canada.