Symposium to explore artists’ role in remembering history

A one-day symposium is set to explore how museums and heritage sites can respond to commemorated and suppressed historic events through working with artists.

The Art of Remembering – Research, Action and Healing, organised by Arts&Heritage with Newcastle University’s Institute for Creative Arts Practice, will take place in Newcastle on 14 November.

The event will explore best practice when telling potentially difficult or contentious stories. It will also look at how museums and historic sites can work in partnership with artists and communities to connect past conflicts with today’s human rights movements.

“Museums and heritage sites often embody in their architecture and collections stories and events that can be traumatic for many, frequently these involve the stories of historically marginalised communities,” Arts&Heritage Executive Director Stephanie Allen said.

“I hope that curators, artists, researchers, and anyone involved with sharing forgotten histories will find the discussions at this event useful and that we will all learn together more about how we can collectively have nuanced yet potentially difficult conversations about our pasts.”