Sectarianism Archives - Contested Histories

Puente Aranda Murals in Bogotá

Paula — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +0000

The project ‘Open Museum of Bogotá: painting in the public space’ was organised by the District Institute of Arts (IDARTES) and Urban Development Institute (IDU), with the support of the Mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López. Part of the initiative aimed to decorate eleven bridges across Bogotá, using local artists selected by a public call. One of these murals, painted by Saint Cat Crew on a supporting column of the Aranda bridge at the crossroad of Avenue of Americas with Street 50 near the Military Club, provoked diverse reactions and criticism. Representing the cycle of violence on the streets, the mural depicted a policeman being awarded a medal over human skulls. Shortly after it was finished, Luis Mauricio Mayorga painted over the mural, which sparked debate regarding freedom of expression, censorship and misuse of public funds. This case examines the controversies surrounding artistic intervention in legacies of violence.

The post Puente Aranda Murals in Bogotá appeared first on Contested Histories.

Stone Flower at Jasenovac Concentration Camp

Paula — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 10:00:00 +0000

The Kameni cvijet (Stone Flower) monument stands to honour the victims of Jasenovic, the largest concentration camp run by the Croatian Ustaša government during World War II. It took several decades to be built, primarily due to contestations between the Croatian far-right and Jewish, Serbian, and Croat anti-fascist organisations that have continued into the present. These concern the nature of the camp, the number of victims who perished there, and whether those deaths can be properly considered genocide. The monument itself and the annual commemoration events held at the site have both become flashpoints for these conflicts, demonstrating the difficulty in honouring the memory of victims in sites whose histories remain unsettled.

The post Stone Flower at Jasenovac Concentration Camp appeared first on Contested Histories.

Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama

Contested Histories Admin — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 10:00:00 +0000

The Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, holds the dichotomous and, at times, violent
legacy of race in the American South. It memorialises Edmund Pettus, a leader of the White
supremacist Ku Klux Klan, and it was a site of pivotal Civil Rights Movement protests in the 1960s.
Two petitions to rename the bridge and shed the White supremacist allusion have gained visibility
in the US; however, neither the 2015 nor the 2020 petition led to the legal change in the name of
the bridge. The 2020 petition was primarily sparked by the death of Representative John Lewis, a
prominent Civil Rights Movement organiser who protested on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in the
1960s. This 2020 petition inspired a renaming resolution that saw initial success in the Alabama
Legislature, but the resolution eventually faltered, allowing the Edmund Pettus Bridge’s name to
persevere.

The post Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama appeared first on Contested Histories.

The Sound of Freedom – The Role of Music in Political Change

Contested Histories Admin — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 08:00:00 +0000

The project on Contested Histories primarily focuses on controversies over monuments, statues, street names, and other tangible representations of historical legacies. However, the project recognises that contested historical legacies can also include intangible heritage, such as music. In this blog post, Serena Jampel examines the role of music in political change.

Part of intangible history, music has long played an important role in historical events. Long a tool of protest, thousands of songs across the globe take aim at repression and authoritarianism and have done so for centuries. In some rarer cases, songs have a much more tangible power. From songs that push back against fascist regimes to songs that incite revolution to songs that demonstrate cultural radicalism and anti-establishment politics, music can be instrumental towards gaining and expressing freedom. From looking at different controversial and contested pieces of music, we can learn how music is a powerful political tool embedded in the histories of nations across the globe.

The Baltics Are Waking Up by Boriss Rezniks (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)

People participating in the Baltic Way line up hand-in-hand on the Vilnius-Ukmergė motorway in 1989. By Saulius Gruodis via Wikimedia Commons CC-BY-4.0

The ‘Singing Revolution’ of the 1980s swept through the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia as a push for state independence from Soviet Russia. It was called the Singing Revolution because of the long heritage of music in the Baltics, and the prominence of songs as a unifying symbol of nonviolent resistance. Baltic song celebrations were included in the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2003. The anthem of the Singing Revolution was the trilingual song The Baltics Are Waking Up, sung in the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian languages. The song underscores the unprecedented unity between the three countries, which was also demonstrated in the epic 1989 ‘Baltic Way,’ a chain of people holding hands that spanned over 690 kilometres from Vilnius, Lithuania, to Tallinn, Estonia, and was formed by roughly two million people, a quarter of the total population of the Baltic nations at the time. The Singing Revolution demonstrated the power of music in the face of a nuclear superpower that outnumbered the population of the Baltics 50 to 1, and eventually resulted in the independence of all three nations.

El Derecho de Vivir En Paz by Victor Jara (Chile)

Mural of Victor Jara in Arica, Chile with the slogan ‘Give us your strength and courage to fight’ by Marcelo Urra via Wikimedia Commons CC-BY-SA-2.0

Victor Jara was a Chilean poet, theatre director, composer, and communist who was murdered under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. El Derecho de Vivir En Paz (the right to live in peace) was released by Jara as a tribute to the Vietnamese communist leader Ho Chi Minh. Jara’s music was a touchstone for oppressed people across Chile, bridging overlooked social issues into the mainstream. After his assassination, his legacy lives on in the protest culture of Chile, and his songs are still used to fight oppression, particularly in the 2019 Chilean Protests.

La Muette de Portici by Daniel Auber (Belgium)

Painting by Gustave Wappers depicting the movement for Belgian Independence in 1830. Image by Sailko via Wikimedia Commons CC-BY-3.0

In 1830, King William I of the Netherlands was set to visit Brussels on the occasion of his birthday, but political turmoil caused some of the events to be cancelled. One event that was not cancelled was the performance of Daniel Auber’s opera La Muette de Portici on August 25th. At the time, people living in the territories in the south of the Netherlands (which then included present-day Belgium) were French-speaking Roman Catholics, which set them apart from the protestant Dutch to the north. The opera follows a fictionalised historical account of a revolt in Naples in the mid-17th century. It contains explicitly nationalistic themes, which the audience quickly picked up on. When the performers sang the lyrics ‘Aux Armes’ (Call to Arms), the audience rose from the concert hall and began openly protesting in the streets. The movement gained speed, and within days, dissidents in Brussels managed to unite the people of Belgium under a common cause under the flag of Independent Belgium.

Pussy Riot (Russia)

Pussy Riot performing in Russia. Image by Cactusbones via Flickr CC-BY-NC-SA-2.0

The Russian Feminist punk rock band Pussy Riot has staged unsanctioned guerilla performances in Russia since 2011. They controversially staged an irreverent and anti-Putin performance in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral in 2012, resulting in the arrest and imprisonment of members of the group. Two members of the group were sentenced to serve their punishment in two of the harshest penal colonies in Russia. The anonymous collective runs from a rotating group of performers, many of whom are now in exile. A member of the group told VICE in 2012, ‘We realised this country needs a militant, punk-feminist, street band that will rip through Moscow’s streets and squares, mobilise public energy against the evil crooks of the Putinist junta and enrich the Russian cultural and political opposition with themes that are important to us: gender and LGBT rights, problems of masculine conformity, absence of a daring political message on the musical and art scenes, and the domination of males in all areas of public discourse.’ The band continues to staunchly oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin despite harsh consequences for dissenters.

E Depois Do Adeus by Paulo de Carvalho and Grândola, Vila Morena by José Afonso (Portugal)

Monument in the Portuguese town of Grandola commemorating the revolutionary song “Grandola, Vila Morena.” Image by Bosc d’Anjou via Flickr CC-BY-NC-SA-2.0

E Depois Do Adeus (And After the Farewell) by Paulo de Carvalho was Portugal’s entry for Eurovision in 1974, finishing in 14th place. However, though it may not have gained wide acclaim across Europe, the song became unprecedentedly influential in Portugal. In the early to mid-1970s, discontentment with Portugal’s authoritarian Estado Novo government had been growing ( Portuguese for New State was developed in 1933 by António de Oliveira Salazar, president of the council of ministers 1932-1968). In 1973, within the military, a rebel alliance had formed called the Movimiento das Forças Armadas (MFA). E Depois Do Adeus became an unlikely tool of the rebel militia. In need of a secret symbol to begin the revolution, the radio station Emissores Associados de Lisboas was instructed to play the Eurovision entry at 22:55 local time on April 24, 1974. This was to be the signal for the coup to begin. A second song, Grândola, Vila Morena, was to play at 00:20 on April 25, at which point the rebels got into position at strategic sites. By the evening of April 25, President Marcelo Caetano had conceded, and the revolution was successful. Both songs became emblematic of what was known as the Carnation Revolution, and a monument to the fall of Portuguese authoritarianism was erected in Grandola, inscribed with the lyrics of Grandola, Vila Morena.

Rumble by Link Wray (USA)

Link Wray. Image by Dxede5x via Wikimedia Commons CC-BY-3.0

Link Wray’s Rumble, released in 1958, was banned in the United States for its incendiary message. What’s so odd about that? Well, the song has no words. Still, some argued that its title and its innovative and gristly guitar riff called to mind images of gang violence and urban revolt. In the 1950s and 1960s, the United States was anxious about a perceived increase in juvenile delinquency and a burgeoning anti-government counterculture. Many radio stations banned the song because they believed it would potentially instigate violence. Rolling Stone said that the song ‘sounded like an invitation to a knife fight,’ and rock historian Dave Marsh said affectionately that the song was ‘Short. Nasty. Potentially Lethal.’

Wray, who faced discrimination for his Native American background while growing up in small-town North Carolina USA, is known for influencing some of the most famous guitarists of the 1960s, including Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, and for his contributions to the development of rock and metal music. ‘Rumble’ laid the groundwork for a countercultural movement that would be instrumental in protesting US imperialism and militarism.

Conclusion

With or without lyrics, whether hyper-contemporary or folk, music has been a driving force of protest and social change for centuries. In some cases, it has also remapped political landscapes and had a role in overturning regimes. Music is popular, and often populist, able to be employed by the people regardless of creed or class. In its role of challenging and changing history, music rises above the individual singer to a collective force of passion and will and transcends any singular time period or institution. Though statues and regimes rise and fall, the music plays on in the hearts of the people.

About the author

Serena Jampel is a senior at Harvard University studying History and Literature. Her thesis research focuses on contested colonial history in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. More broadly, Serena is interested in the invention of national mythologies through the use of material culture and folklore. She was a 2024 summer intern at Contested Histories in The Hague.

References

Belgian Federal Government. “The Rebellion.” Belgium.be, 2024. https://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/country/history/belgium_from_1830/foundation_and_growth/uprising

Dell, Cary. “‘Rumble’ – Link Wray (1958),” Library of Congress, 2008. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/RUMBLE-FINAL.pdf.

Eurovision, “The song that started a revolution: 50 years of Portugal’s ‘E Depois Do Adeus,’” Eurovision Song Contest, April 25, 2024. https://eurovision.tv/story/song-started-revolution-50-years-portugals-e-depois-do-adeus.

Exposito, Suzy. “Chilean All-Stars Revamp Víctor Jara’s Protest Anthem, ‘El Derecho de Vivir en Paz.’” Rolling Stone, October 28, 2019. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/chile-all-stars-victor-jara-protest-song-el-derecho-de-vivir-en-paz-904667/.

Langston, Henry. “Meeting Pussy Riot.” VICE, March 12, 2012. https://www.vice.com/en/article/kwnzgy/A-Russian-Pussy-Riot.

Portocarrero, Marta. “25 de Abril: Uma revolução ao comando dos microfones.” JPN- JornalismoPortoNet, April 22, 2012. https://www.jpn.up.pt/2012/04/22/25-de-abril-uma-revolucao-ao-comando-dos-microfones/

Reilly, Lucas. “How the Performance of a French Opera About a Neapolitan Revolt Sparked a Belgian Revolution.” Mental Floss, September 11, 2018. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/556634/opera-sparked-revolution-belgium-mute-girl-of-portici

Simon, Scott and Ned Wharton. “‘El Derecho de Vivir En Paz’ Gives Voice to Protesters in Chile.” NPR, November 2, 2019. https://www.npr.org/2019/11/02/775533882/el-derecho-de-vivir-en-paz-gives-voice-to-protesters-in-chile

Šmidchens, Guntis. “Singing REvolution: Past and Present.” Foreign Policy Research Institute, October 12, 2016. https://www.fpri.org/article/2016/10/singing-revolution-past-present/#:~:text=The%20Singing%20Revolution%20was%20so,struggle%20for%20national%20self%2Ddetermination/.

Snapes, Laura. “Pussy Riot song protests against war in Ukraine and calls for Putin to be prosecuted.” Guardian, December 24, 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/24/pussy-riot-song-protests-against-war-in-ukraine-and-calls-for-putin-to-be-prosecuted.

Images

Cactusbones. “FREE Pussy Riot,” Flickr, July 31, 2012. https://www.flickr.com/photos/cactusbones/7689466690.

d’Anjou, Bosc. “Grandola 02,” Flickr, August 2004. https://www.flickr.com/photos/boscdanjou/5652297324.

Dxede5x. “Link Wray – 3-8-03 Photo by Anthony Pepitone,” Wikimedia Commons, March 8, 2003. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Link_Wray_-_3-8-03_Photo_by_Anthony_Pepitone.jpg

Gruodis, Saulius. “Baltic Way (Moletai Region, Lithuania),” Wikimedia Commons, August 23, 1989. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baltic_Way_%28Mol%C4%97tai_Region,_Lithuania%29.jpg

Sailko. “File:Gustaf wappers, episodio delle giornate di settembre 1830 sulla piazza dell’hotel de ville di bruxelles, 1835,” Wikimedia Commons, March 9, 2016. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gustaf_wappers,_episodio_delle_giornate_di_settembre_1830_sulla_piazza_dell%27hotel_de_ville_di_bruxelles,_1835,_01.jpg.

Urra, Marcelo. “File: Victor Jara – Danos tu fuerza y tu valor al combatir,” Wikimedia Commons, October 8, 2021. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Victor_Jara_-_Danos_tu_fuerza_y_tu_valor_al_combatir.jpg.

The post The Sound of Freedom – The Role of Music in Political Change appeared first on Contested Histories.

Georgios Grivas Statue in Limassol

Contested Histories Admin — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 12:39:00 +0000

From 1955 to 1960, the Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA) waged a campaign of violence and terror against the British authorities occupying Cyprus with the goal of enosis — union with Greece. Under the leadership of Georgios Grivas, EOKA was an insurgent group that carried out tactical sabotages, riots, and attacks against law enforcement and opposition both to undermine British authorities as well as establish union with Greece as the primary goal of Cyprus, ignoring the objections of the prominent Turkish Cypriot population. Although EOKA and, specifically, Grivas were instrumental to Cypriot independence in 1960 and are widely memorialised throughout the country, the legacy of the violent right-wing group continues to cause controversy in Cyprus, particularly among the left and the Turkish population. This case study examines the tensions regarding the role of Grivas in gaining independence at the cost of brutal violence and marginalisation towards a portion of the country.

The post Georgios Grivas Statue in Limassol appeared first on Contested Histories.

Marshal Tito Square in Zagreb

Contested Histories Admin — Sun, 02 Jun 2024 22:00:00 +0000

The Republic of Croatia Square in Zagreb has been renamed numerous times since the 20th century. Although its geographical place name sometimes referred to it, it was most well-known as the Square of Marshal Josip Broz Tito, the leader of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After Croatia’s independence in 1991, the perception of the communist era and Tito’s legacy began to change and aroused controversy. Since 2006, the group Circle for the Square has organised regular protests to urge city officials to rename it. In 2017, Milan Bandić, the former mayor of Zagreb, promised to conduct a referendum on the issue. However, shortly after this proposition, he agreed to rename the square as a part of a political compromise with the right-wing party, Independents for Croatia, sparking a major controversy.

The post Marshal Tito Square in Zagreb appeared first on Contested Histories.

Green Bridge in Vilnius

Contested Histories Admin — Sun, 05 May 2024 22:00:00 +0000

The Green Bridge is located in the city centre of Vilnius, Lithuania, and since its rebuilding following the Second World War, it was decorated with four groups of statues created by multiple Lithuanian artists in the Socialist realism style. Discussions about the statues split Lithuanian society when some groups advocated keeping them due to their representation of the Soviet past, which marked half a century of the country’s history. Meanwhile, others strictly condemned the monument’s existence, which glorified a period marked with pain and suffering for the Lithuanian nation. After debates that lasted for decades, the remedy was made by the Vilnius City Municipality to remove the statues in 2015.

The post Green Bridge in Vilnius appeared first on Contested Histories.

Marian Column in Prague

Contested Histories Admin — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 10:00:00 +0000

On February 15, 2020, work began on re-erecting the Marian Column Monument in Prague, which had been torn down on November 3, 1918. The column had stood in Old Town Square for more than 250 years before becoming the focus of tensions between religious and nationalist groups. Proponents of its re-erection see the column as part of Prague’s cultural and artistic history, with additional significance for Catholics. The opposition, however, considers the column to be a symbol of the Habsburg imperial oppression of the Czech people, including enforced Catholicism, and there are also practical concerns given there is not enough of the original monument to make a new column anything other than a copy. This case focuses on how the re-erection of the monument in 2020 is the latest event in a long-running saga stretching back over 100 years and has drawn mixed reactions from different groups.

The post Marian Column in Prague appeared first on Contested Histories.

Brotherhood in Arms Monument in Warsaw

Contested Histories Admin — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 10:00:00 +0000

The Brotherhood in Arms monument was the first post-Second World War monument placed in Warsaw in Vilnius Square. The public contestation of the monument began after Poland gained independence in 1989, although grievances against it might have been aired within opposition circles in prior years, too. After the exit of the Soviets, right-wing and far-right nationalist movements, in particular, urged for the removal of the monument. However, city officials were unwilling to do so, citing the international obligation to preserve the monument inscribed in the 1994 agreement with Russia. The monument was temporarily removed in 2011 when the underground station in Vilnius Square was being constructed. Following a new series of contestations and controversies, the city council decided not to reinstate it in 2013. In 2018, the city finally donated the monument to the Museum of Polish History in Warsaw, and it has been displayed there since.

The post Brotherhood in Arms Monument in Warsaw appeared first on Contested Histories.

Omarska Camp in Prijedor

Contested Histories Admin — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Omarska Concentration Camp in Prijedor is notorious for being the site of the 1992 Prijedor
Massacre during the Bosnian War; it featured prominently in several trials for the perpetration
of international crimes undertaken by the International Criminal Tribunal of the Former
Yugoslavia. Since 2004, numerous attempts at commemoration for the victims of the camp
have been attempted but have been met with an impasse given the tense post-conflict
realities in the region. This case study explores the role of commemoration in transitional
societies and how the lack of official action can result in victims groups taking on the issue of
commemoration without permission from official authorities.

The post Omarska Camp in Prijedor appeared first on Contested Histories.