'The Blauwbrug in Amsterdam: a gaze upon the city memory & monumentalisation' by Ivet Reyes Maturano
Amsterdam is a famous city and tourist destination. It is known for its bridges and canals as well as for its cultural diversity and social tolerance. The ethnic, economic and social differences among the many groups of people living and working in Amsterdam help create the identity of the city.
Maturano will discuss the process of the 'monumentalisation' of Amsterdam and the relationship between memories of the city and its identity, the symbolic strength of memory and shaping of physical space. She will do this by using the Blauwbrug (Blue bridge) as a case study.
The Blauwbrug is a bridge, a traffic thoroughfare, a monument, a tourist spot and a site of memory. By reflecting on the Blauwbrug, we recognize the differentiated developments of the city and the imbalances which exist for certain ethnic and economic groups. Maturano suggests that with this new perspective we may be able to re-think and re-imagine our present memory about Amsterdam – unavoidably implying we exercise a degree of forgetfulness.
Party-otism – the new friendly Germanomania, memory politics and German identity in the Berlin Republic by Johannes Raether
Johannes Raether will share his observation that German visual artists are rather unaware of their role in constructing new, seemingly ‘progressive’ national discourses and images. He will discuss this evolving ’friendly’ and critical nationalism, which he believes has been created to communicate a specifically German type of political collective memory. Raether argues this development provides a unique selling point for attracting business, tourism and investment in a highly competitive international market. To help illustrate this phenomenon further, Raether will show various examples of this development including performance, art interventions, happenings and other cultural productions. Raether believes it is necessary to adopt a more critical stance towards these new forms of nationalism, which simultaneously neglect the violent world politics of a large industrialized western country.
Starting from 20.00 hrs at SPS Chapel. For more information, visit the Smart Project Space website.