On 1st and 2nd June 2024, the conference “Erinnerungsbedarf. Conference on Pluralistic Remembrance in Migration Societies” took place in St. Pölten in Austria. As the first European conference of the Coalition for Pluralistic Public Discourse (CPPD), this event took place in cooperation with Tangente St. Pölten – Festival for Contemporary Culture and the Institute for Jewish History Austria (INJOEST). Muhammet Ali Baş from the CPPD network curated the conference.
Scholars, artists and activists from a wide range of communities discussed questions of cultural and political remembrance in panels, workshops and other formats.
On the occasion of the conference, the Dynamic Memory Lab and its exhibition “Codes of Memory in Sinti* and Roma* Communities” were officially opened on the 1st of June on the Rathausplatz in St. Pölten. The exhibition, curated by Hamze Bytyçi, included regional perspectives on Roma* and Sinti* as well as Yenish people in Austria.
More than 40 actors involved in the heterogeneous field of remembrance work as well as members of the CPPD came together for a network meeting. They discussed different issues and needs on a European scale and defined goals and next steps for joint work. The network meeting was moderated by Vatan Ukaj.
In his keynote speech, CPPD curator Max Czollek presented remarks on the status quo of remembrance culture in Germany. In the panel discussion “Whose memory is missing? Who is fighting for visibility?”, Darija Davidovic discussed with Samuel Mago, Ayşe Güleç and Philipp Gufler about ways to create a democratic culture of remembrance.
On 2 June, artist Nina Prader held a zine workshop focusing on the function of zines as a tool for remembrance politics and community building. In a workshop on urban history and memory, architect Jan Bodenstein and postcolonial urban researcher Noa K. Ha introduced the participants to the importance and necessity of a pluralist memory architecture.
On the next panel, Eşim Karakuyu and Prof. Dr Frederek Musall, Derviş Hızarcı and Sheri Avraham discussed the complex challenges and polarisation in Germany and Austria after 7 October/the war in Gaza. The panel was moderated by Max Czollek.
Photocredit: Felix Kubitza
