US/ICOMOS Monuments Toolkit Project invites you to our first webinar: Controversial Monuments in Spaces of Regional Conflict
June 24, 2022 11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Register for this free online event here: https://usicomos.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/usicomos/eventRegistration.jsp?event=66&
This month’s theme covers Controversial Monuments in Spaces of Regional Conflict. Our two guest speakers, each representing a different corner of the world, will present their perspectives on complex sites and narratives in their communities. Monuments in Czechoslovak public spaces have been reassessed many times after the Velvet Revolution in 1989. As contemporary communities question the comemmoration of communist-era monuments like the Konev Monument, Czech and Slovak public spaces are witnessing numerous reformulations that are reshaping their legacy and identity.
In Taiwan, statues of the authoritarian leader Chiang Kai-shek are being re-evaluated in the wake of the island nation’s democratic transition. While now recognized as one of Asia’s most liberal and open societies, Taiwan endured decades of martial law and White Terror. Schools, public institutions, and city centers have grappled with how to handle monuments to a man instrumental to development, but who presided over a one-party police state that committed human rights atrocities against the populace—and how this squares with democratic values today.
This webinar is moderated by William Humphrey, the Program Associate for Publications, Research and Administration, who shares some of his own insight and leads the discussions on navigating oppressive monuments in contemporary communities. Guest speakers include Dr. Petra Švardová, postdoctoral fellow of the Institute of Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Sciences; and Kevin Fan Hsu, lecturer at Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school).