... this blog is an ongoing investigation into modes of suspension that started as a research project in Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths College in 2011 ...

Case Studies

 
Recent years have witnessed intensified action on the memory front in the Russian-Baltic relations, be they debates over ‘occupation’ or ‘liberation’ in the context of border treaties; or controversies over WWII monuments in Estonia. Both the Baltic and Russia attempt to seek pan-European recognition of ‘Europeanness’ and their ‘self’, whilst denying of the other. Relative geographically peripheral position has created a case where both sides use the other as a negative reference point in order to veil its own sense of inferiority. The attempts to fix certain meanings of the past show that in fact these are substantially struggles over power. The control over the narratives of the past enables one to gain control over the construction of further narratives for an imagined future. In recent years Russia has expressed the view that some of its neighboring countries are trying to ‘re-write history’. But is it re-writing history or perhaps writing your own parallel histories? Estonian government’s decision to remove an two-meter-long sculpture from the city center in Tallinn in 2007 can be seen as a sort of declaration to the world that Estonia has left its Soviet past completely behind. As if the object’s mere physical presence in the city center could threaten the country’s independence. Yet it is never just about things, in this instance the public statue; it is about the collective memory they embody. Read more


 





 

In 2011 the Culture Ministry invests 2 million Turkish Liras to enable ancient sites in Southeast Anatolia to be reopened for tourism – for however long remains before a new dam floods the entire area. Tourism sites in the ancient city of Hasankeyf, located in Batman province, have been closed to visitors since July, when a large rock rolled down from the city’s old castle and killed an elderly man living in a nearby cave. According to Professor Abdüsselam Uluçam, who heads the archaeological excavations in the city, the ministry will provide 2.1 million Turkish Liras for the renovation of the Hasankeyf area, which is set to be flooded as part of the ongoing construction of the Ilısu Dam. Read more