Rethinking Monuments: The Future of Remembrance

In this workshop 15 young memory practitioners from all over Europe explored how remembrance could look like in the future.

Taking personal stories and memories they wish to preserve as a starting point, the participants reflected on monuments from their home countries: Whom and what are they dedicated to? Is this appropriate to us? Thereafter, participants developed four themes for their own virtual monuments: peace, connection, protest and regional history. Within small groups ideas were collected, resulting in self-created paper prototypes of their monuments. 

These paper prototypes became the basis for the immersive experiences: In a hands-on session the participants learned the basics about creating digital assets that can be used in Augmented Reality (AR). With further information on licensing, reuse of online content and simple 3D-tools they were able to start: Using the AR-App Scenery the group transformed the prototypes into own virtual monuments.

During the workshop new technologies for memory making were also discussed critically: Are virtual monuments able to democratize historical narratives? Do virtual monuments offer more potential for transnational memory culture? Do more engaging experiences like these lead to a more impactful commemoration?

Find your own answer by testing the virtual monuments yourself (Apple device required):

…or take a look here: