The One and the Many: Monuments Without Heroes

The One and the Many: Monuments Without Heroes

Monuments deemed racist, sexist and culturally insensitive have continued to be dismantled in towns and cities across the U.S. In their place, communities have grappled with what else to erect, as well as questions about whom, how, and why to honor in their place? City officials and cultural leaders voice their commitment to change, to embrace new voices and ideas towards a more inclusive narrative of American history. But what has changed, and how should monument creation evolve? An emerging discourse around twenty-first century memorials suggests that subjects for new monuments should resist the tradition of isolating a single person or elite hero from a movement or moment in history; that rarely in life does an individual accomplish sweeping change without extraordinary cooperation and collaboration with others. Similarly, even the process of selecting groups and stories to memorialize often gets compromised by too much centralization of power in one deciding body, who may lack the tools or will to incorporate inclusive participation or marginalized voices. More democratic decision-making processes could resist these top-down practices in favor of community-engaged, open forum discussion guiding the process, selection and development of a new work. This session seeks artists, curators, makers, scholars and other cultural producers conversant in these ideas and issues for a roundtable discussion, addressing new models for commissioning public works that can lead to exciting, impactful outcomes. Submissions should include participant’s bio, CV, and ideas or examples of progressive models of monument making.