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MuseoMag N°IV 2024
A DIVERSITY OF (POST)MEMORIES
erupted during the process of decolonisation. These
individual memories complicate the historical deco-
lonisation narrative.
As personal memories and post-memories add
new layers and illuminate hitherto unexplored as-
pects of the past, the line that separates the cate-
gories of victims and perpetrators becomes blurred.
It is, however, important to frame these memories in
a way that avoids historical revisionism but rather
invites us to look more closely and listen more care-
fully to the information we have about a given event.
REMEMBERING IS ABOUT THE FUTURE
One of the many positive outcomes of memory
studies is the impact this engagement with the past
has on the present, and even on the future. When
we take an interest in how historical events impac-
ted the lives of everyday people on both sides of a
divide, and how they remember and narrate these
events, we learn to look beyond our personal, group
or national circumstances. Because memories and
remembering affect us in the present and the way
we think, memories also help shape the future.
This futurity of memory gains yet another dimen-
sion when we consider memories of happy and
hopeful moments. Happy memories often relate to
and re-enact moments of hope: “When my father
heard I’d be coming to this exhibition, he spent the
weekend talking about the Revolution. We also liste-
ned to songs from that time.” This father is most pro-
bably too young to have memories of the Carnation
Revolution himself, but the memories of the previous
generation have nourished his perception of the
sense of joy and hope associated with this event.
His daughter’s visit to the exhibition triggered his
memories of his parents’ memories of revolutionary
hope that he now shared with his daughter.
Vera Herold
The exhibition La révolution de 1974. Des rues de
Lisbonne au Luxembourg is on view at the
Nationalmusée um Fëschmaart until 5 January 2025.
Listening to the memories of others
©
éric chenal
