The Matilda Newport Monument in Monrovia, Liberia, commemorates the victory of American free Black settlers over the indigenous population in battle in 1822. The protagonist of the story, Matilda Newport, is credited with lighting a cannon that resulted in the defeat of the native people. The monument has stood… Read More
The Nanjing Memorial Hall commemorating the six weeks of Japanese occupation in the Sino-Japanese War remains a key point of contention in Sino-Japanese relations. This case study explores how contested historical events can lead to the construction of national identities and the impact and tension this can cause in… Read More
Filipina Comfort Women was a statue erected on 8 December 2017 along Baywalk, Roxas Boulevard, in Manila. The contestation began days after the statue’s installation with a request for background information by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). Japanese Minister for Internal Affairs and Communication Seiko Noda later regretted… Read More
In the years after the Confederate States of America (often referred to as the ‘Confederacy’) lost the American Civil War in 1865, several groups established memorials to Confederate leaders across the South. Five Confederate statues were erected on Monument Avenue in Richmond, once the capital of the Confederacy and… Read More
Omarska Concentration Camp in Prijedor is notorious for being the site of the 1992 PrijedorMassacre during the Bosnian War; it featured prominently in several trials for the perpetrationof international crimes undertaken by the International Criminal Tribunal of the FormerYugoslavia. Since 2004, numerous attempts at commemoration for the victims of… Read More
On February 27, 2016, several Czech citizens started a petition to rename Prague’s Under the Chestnuts Square, the site of Russia’s Embassy in the Czech Republic, in honour of the murdered Kremlin critic, Boris Nemtsov. The Prague City Council finalised the renaming on February 27, 2020. In response, the… Read More
Richard ‘Dick’ Dowling was an Irish-born emigrant to the United States who became famous forhis military exploits for the Confederacy in the American Civil War. In 1998, his Americandescendants unveiled a plaque on the wall of Tuam town hall to commemorate him in his place ofbirth. In 2017, following… Read More
The threat of climate disaster and its physical impact on the global environment and human life are becoming increasingly more visible every day. Gradual changes in temperature, wind intensity, and sea level rise have increased the frequency of climate disasters, devastating physical infrastructure and human lives. Read More
For many years, Jean-Baptiste Colbert was praised for his involvement in creating a strong French state. In recent years, however, this status has been called into question, notably concerning his involvement in laying the foundation of the Code Noir, a legal text which legitimised slavery in the French colonies. Read More
A mausoleum inaugurated in August 2012 in the town of Affile, located in metropolitan Rome, has been subject to vandalism and protests by various anti-fascist groups. While the local right-wing mayor, Ercole Viri, claims that the publicly funded mausoleum was commissioned to honour Italian war veterans, the structure appears… Read More
The Columbus Lighthouse of Santo Domingo is an enormous mausoleum which is said to contain Christopher Columbus’ remains. The first plans to build a monument to Columbus date back to the mid-nineteenth century, and a competition to decide the design of the project was launched in 1928. The final… Read More