we all had a trip to Manchester the other week, (during Reading Week...and lots of undergards and postgrads came along...now that's dedication!) Anyway, we had our usual whistle-stop tour of mu
seums and galleries, including Manchester Art Gallery...with it's 19th century plaster casts of the Elgin-Parthenon metopes...which raised contentious debate about the place/role of such historical 'treasures' in British and Greek culture.....(cultural property...along with taxidermy...seems to be a recurrent theme in the Blog lately...).....anyway, we also attended a really interesting seminar with Dr Sam Alberti (of Manchester Museum/University) on 'Displaying the Dead in 19th century Manchester'...a fascinating (and amusing talk)..thanks Sam!
http://www.arts.manchester.ac.uk/museology/academicstaff/DrSamAlberti/
We also took a little wander round Manchester, mainly to look at, (contemplate?) a significant historical 'site'...
The location of the (in)famous 'Peterloo Massacre' of1819....shown here .....some of us got a little emotional (history can be such an emotive subject...don't you think?).........
(here's the Students pretending to be interested in the 'Peterloo' plaque at the Free Trade Hall in Peter Street, Manchester)
......anyway, after returning from Manchester, I mentioned this experience to Mrs M., and she pointed out this amusing photograph (from the Daily Mail...Mrs M tells me she only buys it for the crossword.....!) ....I thought it's a bit clunky, but raises some really important issues in relation to how we 'commemorate' (is that the right word?) historical moments, and the role that these 'plaques' play in constructing and shaping our memory and our identities.....maybe nothing did happen at 'Peterloo' in 
1819?
1819?Mark
Would this be a similar argument to Baudrillard's 'The Gulf War Did Not Take Place'? Perhaps the 'images' are different - one present and all-pervasive, one absent (and imaginary?). With Peterloo, the space is very different, it is a different social, physical and historical place, so what do we mean when we say this happened 'here'? I also wonder if we construct resonance differently around objects than around language and space. The authority of these signs is interesting, pointing to abstract (and arbitrary?) significances. Was it Gavin Turk who has subverted the idea of blue plaque in his art practice?
ReplyDeleteAh..yes, I remember about Gavin Turk....his 'Blue Plaque' also commemorated an 'absence' too...an absence of work done during his MA degree (failed)...nothing happened again......but you also highlight something really significant here, the need to kind of project meaning into 'space'....hmmm...
ReplyDeletem
So nothing happened? I have long suspected that the blue plaque is a marketing exercise, and a pretty basic (or if I being more direct, lame) way of commemorating (still not sure if that's the right word Mark) people or events. In reality they tell us little, and whilst they may mark the existence of someone, or a site based activity, in terms of interpretation they are poor.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what to suggest as an alternative, but it would be an interesting project to develop (say) a downloadable info pack from the site, perhaps using mobile technology?
I'm sure Mark has an origin for the use of the word plaque in this sense, but what is the connection in that it also refers to the build up of bacteria in the mouth?
ReplyDelete