2022
Who Should Own the Past?
April 6-8, 2022
Starting with the Rhodes Must Fall campaign in 2015 and then the clashes around the removal of Confederate memorials in the United States in 2017, public history, especially in the form of statues, had already become increasingly prominent on the current political agenda. Then the Black Lives Matter protests sparked direct action on this across a number of countries, with statues defaced or dragged down.
Was this democracy in action or the flouting of lawful democratic procedures? Was this about highlighting the truth or erasing the past and its complexity? Political statements and surveys suggest radically differing perspectives. So how can this debate best be taken forward to reconcile embattled communities to ensure equity in public history?
The debate over what to do with public space is one element among broader questions of social justice. How far will this focus on history inform and help create equity in our societies today, and in what ways? Or how far might it distract from that, dealing with the symbolism rather than the substance, mired in the past rather than building a more equitable present and future, or just accentuating divisions?
The practice of public apology for a historical injustice by a head of state or government may be analogous to this. Is an apology or the toppling of a statue an inconsequential end in itself, or could it be a catalyst for social change?
In one sense, the debate has not been a disagreement about the history. Edward Colston, for instance, the much-commemorated philanthropist of the City of Bristol, was, incontestably, a slave trader. Yet many citizens (more than half of those surveyed regarding Colston in Bristol in 2014) wish to see such memorials remain on their plinths. Reasons given include the past being another country, that these were people of their times with different values, and that they were mixtures of good and bad.
Protestors argue that such commemoration hides or excuses the appalling harm to millions of people, which still haunts their descendants and affects their lives. Underlying such debate lie issues of identity, often in flux in multi-cultural societies, which are perhaps not fully articulated. What sort of public engagement might use public history as a starting point for better mutual understanding, communities shaping public spaces, so they are more equitably and creatively shared?
Between April 6 and April 8, participants of "Who Owns the Past?" explored these questions and more. This program was organised by 21st Century Trust with Salzburg Global Seminar, Rhodes House, Goodenough College, and the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation.
It developed the discussion that began at a webinar in February 2021, which you can watch here. Both meetings drew on the key report "Contested Histories in Public Spaces: Principles, Processes, Best Practices" by the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation, the International Bar Association, and Salzburg Global Seminar, which can download here.
The venue of this programme, Schloss Leopoldskron, has its own varied and challenging history. As well as being a place of great beauty, it has artistic images within it, which have been the occasion for protest. Participants explored this space together as one of the case studies.