How Should Societies Remember their Sins?
A Zócalo Public Square inquiry, funded by the Mellon Foundation
Dorit Cypis, “Who Did It (alert)”, 2013-2015. Series of 5 prints – green – blue – yellow – orange – red. Archival pigment, Hahnemuhle rag paper, 40 x 30 inches. Image courtesy of the artist.
Text reads: “Who did it? Who caused it? Who ordered it to be done? Who proposed it? Who supported it? Who defined it? Who defended it? Who justified it? Who applauded it? Who profited from it? Who obscured it? Who denied it? Who covered it up? Who knew about it but did nothing? Who chose to remain silent?”
In 2021, I was invited by Zócalo Public Square, an Arizona State University media enterprise, to serve as guest curator/editor on a two-year editorial and event series funded by the Mellon Foundation titled, “How Should Societies Remember Their Sins?”. Blending scholarly essays and personal stories, the series explores how societies around the world collectively remember their transgressions and make attempts at repair—and how we might imagine new paths forward.
As part of my work, I formed an eight-person advisory group with scholars and practitioners from different fields, each of whom confronts fraught histories in their work. The goal for the two conversations we held with the group was to learn from the best practices and historical precedents of different disciplines, and to see if a new, shared knowledge could emerge.
Read my essay, About this Series, which summarizes the key takeaways from the advisory group meetings, and how they helped shape the arch of the project.