Kihei, US Memorials | Ana Milošević
Therapeutic memorials
The proliferation of memorials in recent decades is arguably the result of an
impetus to mend history and its aches, to bear witness to the suffering and tragedy.
Forgotten or marginalised histories are recovered. Memorials are erected to the
victims of the past as a retroactive token of recognition. Yet, not only the tragedies
of the past linger in our political present. Terrorist attacks, natural and man-made
disasters, are forcing us to rethink how we remember and what purposes we assign
to memorials.
In Western societies, grassroots memorialisation has now become a socially
accepted practice of mourning in a public space. Grassroots memorials are objects
which serve as a focus for memory of something (an event) or someone (a person
who has died). Usually they mark an untimely death and can be found in the
streets, hospitals, parks, schoolyards. Numerous memorials have been created
worldwide to commemorate the terrorist attacks. From 9/11 to the Toronto attacks,
society itself has taken the role of a memory actor. Memorialisation is used to
express solidarity and closeness, to mourn and grieve. Grassroots memorialisation,
therefore, is directed towards survivors and those who perished, but also towards
the society itself — seen as a victim of a collective tragedy.
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