FORWARD: Issue #7: Monuments & Memorials

Shifting the Commemorative Landscape

How artists are challenging systems of power through new monuments

Welcome to FORWARD, a digital publication and conversation series from Forecast, a nonprofit that activates, inspires, and advocates for public art that advances justice, health, and human dignity. FORWARD highlights how artists are partnering with cities, institutions, and communities to courageously tackle the vital issues of our time. This seventh issue, made in collaboration with New Monuments Taskforce (NMTF), focuses on monuments and memorials. Guest-edited by NMTF's Claire Flanegin, an architectural and urban historian, and with the vision of the entire NMTF team, it highlights projects and partnerships that use art and creativity to challenge systems of power through new monuments in a shifting memorial landscape.

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Image: In Memory Work, a project by the Memory Work Collective, Toronto artists create a multimedia memorial to “women’s work” that situates themselves in an imagined future in order to demand a different present. Photo by Serena Choi.

The Future of Monuments

What do our monuments and memorials say about who we are, what we value and who holds power? How are leaders changing this to reflect the world we want?

This cross-sector panel is an extension of our seventh FORWARD issue, focused on monuments & memorials, and explores what is next for monuments across the world. Featuring:

Bethel Abate, Design Director, MASS Design Group.
Macy Siu, artist, foresight strategist with From Later.
Darion Jones, Deputy Director, Office of Arts & Culture, Portland, OR.

Moderated by Mallory Rukhsana Nezam (FORWARD Curator of Partnerships & Programming). Watch the conversation, which was held via Zoom on October 17, 2024.

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