Museums and Spontaneous Memorials

Abstract

Museums and Spontaneous Memorials is an in-depth, contextualised, and longitudinal study of the formation, use, and legacy of collections of spontaneous memorials in museums after terrorist attacks or disasters, their impact on museum policy and practice, and their role in shaping people’s perceptions of the original events. Such an examination is significant, timely, and internationally relevant, because of the growing frequency of spontaneous memorialisation around the world, the role of museums in constructing personal and collective memories of the related events by collecting spontaneous memorials, and the challenges these spontaneous memorials pose to established museum practices.

Drawing on Arvanitis’ research in several international case studies and on theories of ethics of care, affective and emotional labour, and digital materiality, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of practices of collecting, documenting, exhibiting and engaging the public with collections of spontaneous memorials. It also examines how institutional identities impact on and are impacted by spontaneous memorials, their role in how the associated events are remembered, the digital lives of spontaneous memorials, and the psychological impact they have on museum professionals and the public alike.

Original language	English
Publisher	Routledge
Publication status	In preparation - 2025

Keywords

spontaneous memorials
collecting
ethics of care
digital materiality
memorials
memory
cultural trauma

1 Finished
1 Not started

Manchester Together archive
Arvanitis, K.
Project: Research
Creating, Documenting and Using Archives of Spontaneous Memorials: Building an International Network
Arvanitis, K.
2/04/18 → 31/01/19
Project: Research

4 Digital or Visual Products
3 Chapter
3 Article
1 Other report
More
- 1 Literature review

Making, Sharing and Extending Presence in Spontaneous Memorials: The Case of the 2017 Manchester Attack
Arvanitis, K. & Simpson, R., 10 Feb 2024, (Accepted/In press) Remembering, Forgetting and Anticipating Urban Terrorism in Europe since 2004. Karcher, K., Dimcheva, Y. & Medina, M. (eds.). Palgrave Macmillan Ltd
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
The Ethics of Response-ability in Collecting Spontaneous Memorials
Arvanitis, K., Bolton, L., Marsden, J., McKenzie, E. & Wallace, A., 10 Feb 2024, (Accepted/In press) Ethics of Contemporary Collecting. Routledge
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Ethics of Care in Collecting Spontaneous Memorials
Arvanitis, K., 15 Oct 2022, (Accepted/In press) The Ethics of Collecting Trauma: The role of museums in collecting and displaying contemporary crises. Routledge
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Developing a museum policy and practice for the curation of spontaneous memorials after terrorist attacks and their use for post-trauma recovery
Kostas Arvanitis (Participant)
Impact: Awareness and understanding, Health and wellbeing, Policy, Society and culture

"Working Together for Manchester" Award. Manchester City Council Awards for Excellence 2019
Arvanitis, Kostas (Recipient), Wallace, Amanda (Recipient), Bolton, Laysa (Recipient) & Marsden, Jenny (Recipient), 18 Oct 2019
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)

1 Invited talk

The role of spontaneous memorials' collections in the memorialisation of terror attacks
Kostas Arvanitis (Speaker)
17 May 2021
Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk › Research

Cite this

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abstract = "Museums and Spontaneous Memorials is an in-depth, contextualised, and longitudinal study of the formation, use, and legacy of collections of spontaneous memorials in museums after terrorist attacks or disasters, their impact on museum policy and practice, and their role in shaping people{\textquoteright}s perceptions of the original events. Such an examination is significant, timely, and internationally relevant, because of the growing frequency of spontaneous memorialisation around the world, the role of museums in constructing personal and collective memories of the related events by collecting spontaneous memorials, and the challenges these spontaneous memorials pose to established museum practices. Drawing on Arvanitis{\textquoteright} research in several international case studies and on theories of ethics of care, affective and emotional labour, and digital materiality, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of practices of collecting, documenting, exhibiting and engaging the public with collections of spontaneous memorials. It also examines how institutional identities impact on and are impacted by spontaneous memorials, their role in how the associated events are remembered, the digital lives of spontaneous memorials, and the psychological impact they have on museum professionals and the public alike. ",

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