Casa do Fernandez or Ilojo Bar was a National Monument in the heart of Lagos Island, Nigeria. It was built by the returnees who came back from Brazil to Africa, the homeland that the Transatlantic...Show moreCasa do Fernandez or Ilojo Bar was a National Monument in the heart of Lagos Island, Nigeria. It was built by the returnees who came back from Brazil to Africa, the homeland that the Transatlantic Slave Trade had taken their forefathers away from. Although it was a National Monument and should have been protected under Nigerian heritage law, it was illegally demolished on 11 September 2016. How could this prime example of Brazilian-style architecture have been destroyed in broad daylight? This thesis uses Casa do Fernandez as a case study to explore the challenges of preserving built heritage in Nigeria. In the process, it tries to figure out why there is so little knowledge about the history of a building declared a National Monument over sixty years ago. The story of the monument turns out to be different than always assumed. After researching the building’s history, the focus is turned to heritage: the way the present interacts with the past. Could the way Casa do Fernandez has been defined as heritage have something to do with its sad end? The thesis argues that the rigid definition of Casa do Fernandez as strictly Afro-Brazilian heritage detached the site of its cultural meaning to other groups in society and sowed the seeds of the eventual demise of the National Monument. It is a plea for a wider and more inclusive interpretation of this heritage-site in particular and of heritage in general.Show less
The purpose of this research is to describe how iconoclasm is taking shape in contemporary Italy, by analyzing and comparing the “Mussolini Dux” obelisk in Rome with the statue of Indro Montanelli...Show moreThe purpose of this research is to describe how iconoclasm is taking shape in contemporary Italy, by analyzing and comparing the “Mussolini Dux” obelisk in Rome with the statue of Indro Montanelli in Milan: while the former resisted any form of iconoclasm from the post-war period until the present day, the latter has been recently subject to several iconoclastic acts. The different ways in which the public engages with these two monuments reveal that iconoclasm in Italy is driven by international influence, that is nevertheless resisted when it comes to challenging strong national ideologies like fascism. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this research suggests that iconoclasm is not opposite bur rather complementary to collective memory, as it recognizes the importance of remembering rather than forgetting. Iconoclasm is the phenomenon that make us remember that memory must be kept alive by demanding new interpretations of the past. However, this research also shows that this is not the way collective memory and iconoclasm are understood in Italy today.Show less
This research aims to explain why specific statues in the Netherlands have become the focal point of discussions regarding societal problems. Although these memories are always present in the...Show moreThis research aims to explain why specific statues in the Netherlands have become the focal point of discussions regarding societal problems. Although these memories are always present in the public space, they only periodically provoke the existing Dutch historical narrative. The Jan Pieterszoon Coen statue and the Nederland-Indië monument are used as devices around which debates about social injustice are held. By analysing this function, this thesis makes an argument for keeping these colonial statues in place. The author contends that, in Dutch cultural remembrance, statues and monuments of colonial history reveal pasts that do not match the main historical narrative by applying and reformulating some fundamental concepts of the book Emerging Memories written by Paul Bijl. These statues and monuments continue to emerge and submerge while retaining their provocative presence. In two-fold these sites of remembrance aggravate communities whilst there is also room for new monuments. There is an ambiguity wherein the symbolism of memorial heritage is pursued by two groups, one for its celebration of colonial and national heroes and the other for the remembrance of colonial victims and their descendants. Without these colonial heritage sites, provocative memories are lost, and communities are not pushed to change the existing narrative.Show less
In the following thesis, the following research question was analyzed What kind of images and representations regarding women were depicted through monuments in Flanders after (and during) the...Show moreIn the following thesis, the following research question was analyzed What kind of images and representations regarding women were depicted through monuments in Flanders after (and during) the First World War and why such depictions came to the existence? Through the means of the MCDA analysis, it was concluded that women are represented in the gendered terms in the literal and figurative terms. Women’s “feminine” traits and biological preconditions justify the notions of nationhood and the reasoning of the nation to enter the war, neglecting more accurate representation of the history and role of the women in the war.Show less
Looking at the Green Bridge monumental sculptures as the objects that represent a certain historical ‘truth’, there has been so much concentration on the past and how artefacts disclose and...Show moreLooking at the Green Bridge monumental sculptures as the objects that represent a certain historical ‘truth’, there has been so much concentration on the past and how artefacts disclose and manifest the essence of that past, that it neglects important issues on how artefacts interact with a present and what they signify in present conditions. The problem of the Green Bridge is complicated precisely because of what these four monuments represent in current political and cultural situation. The issue goes way beyond a ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ memory line of reasoning as many people argue that the sculptures again (mainly because of the recent Imperialist-nature of Russian politics in Ukraine) have become the signifiers of oppression, (even after 25 years of Lithuanian independence) and are offensive to the residents of the city, devaluating ‘truthful’ Lithuanian identity and its values. Thus, this research, exploring the Socialist Realist monumental position in Post-Socialist society and concentrating on the Green Bridge sculptural ensemble in Vilnius, is divided into three ‘colourful’ chapters. The first one, entitled ‘Green.’, shortly reviews the historical background of the bridge giving an overview of its construction and development. The second, entitled ‘Red!’, examines the monuments in their relation to Lithuania’s history and complicated political aspects, indicating how there are many levels of interpretation while analysing art objects as time-factored symbols of an entire culture. This chapter contains the analysis of Socialist Realist style, symbols and iconography of the sculptures. It also reflects on possible benefits of adding a Post-colonial discourse to the subject, looks closer into Lithuanian Post-Socialist identity and traumatic collective memory while also indicating the dangers of a narrow two-sided ‘preserve vs. remove’ polemics escalated by Lithuanian media. Chapter ‘Pink?’ aims to propose a wider-raging interdisciplinary approach to political art emphasizing the importance of contemporary artistic practices and their abilities of meaning transformation in the former USSR countries. Moreover, a semiotic approach and the examples of Lithuanian artists in relation to the subject of memory give the opportunity to debate on alternative ways of dealing with the heritage of a totalitarian regime in a present day Post-socialist public spaces. Finally, the conclusion ‘Plato’s Ideal City: Political Decisions & Objectivity in Post-Soviet Vilnius’ examines the verdict made by the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture and its political aspects also questioning the possibility of objectivity of the solution for the indicated problem.Show less
