WITH/OUT IDENTITY. On the Question of Identity Constructions in Spaces, Heritage and Communities (7th Annual Conference)

On the one hand, vagueness and the questionable tendency to essentialise the term lead to a certain avoidance of its use. On the other hand, referring back to concepts of identity provides an important frame of reference – especially for those communities that are refused to articulate history, memory and bodies of knowledge themselves.

The construction of spaces and cultural heritage is crucial to the question of how identity is appropriated, negotiated or asserted in social, political and thus also physical spaces. The 7th annual conference of the Research Training Group therefore understands the concept of identity as a projection field in which groups and communities constitute themselves and imagine commonalities in reference to spatial as well as material cultural heritage. For a critical examination of identity constructions, the conference will take up current and socio-political discourses on heritage and space from the perspective of various disciplines.

The invited speakers from the fields of architecture, (art) history, sociology, political science and monument preservation will present results and questions from current research projects in five panels. The classic conference format will be complemented by two keynote lectures and a film screening. A special focus will be on the question of identity constructions, which are used to justify the shaping of futures. Furthermore, alteritarian concepts of space, the current transformations of museum narratives and contested heritage constructions will be discussed, as well as examples of (de)constructions of colonial identity and the identity constructions from the perspective of marginalised communities will be presented.

The 7th annual conference “WITH/OUT IDENTITY” of the DFG Research Training Group “Identity and Heritage” will take place from 23.11. to 24.11.2023 at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar (Oberlichtsaal, main building, Geschwister Scholl Straße 8).

Link für Online-Participants (video conference)

Programme booklet

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Programm

23.11.2023

09:30

Ton, Steine, Erben – What Remains of Squatted Buildings in Berlin? (GER)

Squatting is an extensively researched topic, especially in the social sciences. Studies often focus on the squatters, their political milieu, and the social aspects of the sometimes very different communities. Rarely, however, has the focus been on the squatted buildings as material heritage and carriers of attributed meaning and memories. We address this gap in our research project on squats in Berlin, “What remains? Squatted houses as (im)material heritage and case studies for processual design”. In additional to asking about the processes of appropriation in terms of design, we also enquire into the transmission potential of squatting.  We would like to present and discuss the initial results of our research project and the associated seminar in the form of case studies. The focus will be on squats such as the Kunsthaus Tacheles, currently being renovated in accordance with its status as […]

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Kirsten Angermann, Franka Fetzer, Ulrike Kuch

23.11.2023

10:10

Local Identity Constructions in Digital Transformation: At the ‘Peripheries’ of a Globalized World (GER)

Remote, rural areas are a popular subject of urban-centric projections. Often branded as peripheries of global networks and thresholds of modernisation and development narratives, they are also considered a resource to be exploited in planning processes. Whilst public discourse provides little space for inhabitants’ perspectives, they experience first-hand the digitally mediated commodification of their living environment into symbolic spaces of a mythicised authenticity. Today, digital technologies translocally co-produce the reinterpretation and transformation of these places. In spatial science and planning, this digital interconnectedness of the world is understood as a critical juncture in the production of space: global discourses, services, and knowledge systems to which we as individuals are digitally connected, refigure our perceived standpoint in the world and therefore influence our spatial actions. Identity constructs, consisting of multiple and simultaneous contexts of an individual (Sen 2006), set the course […]

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Jae-Young E. Lee

23.11.2023

10:50

Tracing Nepantla (EN)

The artistic research “Tracing Nepantla” approaches the concept of nepantla, a space in between, from a spatial perspective. The term nepantla originates from Nahuatl and translates roughly to ‘standing in the middle’. In the 1980s, the author, theorist,self-proclaimed Chicana and lesbian Gloria E. Anzaldúa (1942-2004) developed a language to articulate this feeling of in-betweenness between different, fluid identities and affiliations. Based on the history of the Mexico-US border region, her bilingual book “Borderlands – La Frontera: The New Mestiza” (1987) expands the geographical and cultural understanding of the border space. Anzaldúa illustrates how borderlands are not only physical or spatial constructs but also intersect our lives, manifesting as psychological or sexual boundaries depending on our positionalities.  Anzaldúa employed the concept of nepantla to describe this border space and continued to refine it until her death. Through her writing, Anzaldúa crafts spaces and develops knowledge by challenging hegemonic […]

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Ana M. Rodriguez Bisbicus

23.11.2023

12:00

(Not So) Difficult Heritage (Anymore). On Documenting Nuremberg’s Transforming Nazi Party Rally Grounds (EN)

In a highly controversial move, the infamous Nazi Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg, Germany’s largest preserved Nazi monument complex, is slated to become a large-scale cultural centre and the interim home of the city’s opera house. Together with the ambitious renovation of significant monuments on the site – the Zeppelin Field and Zeppelin Tribune – these plans, some of which are already underway, constitute the most extensive overhaul of the Nazi complex since its initial construction in the early 1930s. Disconcerted by this plan, filmmaker Gilad Baram and composer-artist Bnaya Halperin-Kaddari – both Israelis of Jewish-European descent who emigrated to Berlin over a decade ago – embark on a film project that aims to scrutinize the rally grounds, both as a physical site of architectural transformation and as a metaphoric site of societal and cultural shifts vis-a-vis Germany’s National Socialist […]

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Gilad Baram, Bnaya Halperin-Kaddari

23.11.2023

15:00

If This Wall Could Talk: The Judensau in Wittenberg (EN)

In October 2022, a long-ongoing controversy came to an end, about whether the medieval relief known as the “Wittenberg Sau” on the southern exterior wall of St. Mary’s Church in Wittenberg should be preserved or removed, or so the town council and the parish thought. Relying on the recommendation of the Bundesgerichtshof given five months earlier, the town council decided against the removal of the relief. The decision was based on the fact that, since 1988, the relief had been part of a memorial installed beneath the Sau, dedicated to the memory of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis. The council also acknowledged that the text on the explanatory panel next to the memorial needed to be revised to offer in-depth information on the iconography of the relief, including aspects of anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism in the Church. I was told that […]

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Galit Noga-Banai

23.11.2023

15:40

Negotiating Tehran's Identity: The Spatial-Discursive Assemblage Around the Reconstruction of Baladiyeh (EN)

The stylistic restoration and reconstruction of ruined historic monuments has become a controversial issue in various socio-political contexts, from Nanjing to Dubai to Berlin. In the Iranian capital, too, the stylistic restoration and reconstruction of historic public places and monuments is being discussed. Critics have often referred to the Qajar-style cladding on both old and contemporary buildings as a thick make-up for the decaying face of Tehran’s city centre, turning it into a marketable product for the tourism industry. Acknowledging the economic aspects of heritage planning in Tehran, this lecture focuses on identity politics; a less-discussed dimension of the afore mentioned projects. Aware of the prevailing nostalgia for the 1960s and 1970s in Tehran’s public sphere, the reform-oriented urban planning administration seems inclined to associate physical public space with the era before this period. More specifically, through heritage planning, the municipality […]

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Solmaz Yadollahi

23.11.2023

16:20

Sovietness as Part of the Identity of Modern Ukrainian Cities (EN)

The history of the Soviet period has always been a very complex and emotionally tense topic for Ukrainians. Not least because it was, and is, the subject of constant manipulation and speculation by Kremlin propaganda; particularly since the Russian military intervention that led to the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and even more so after the full-scale war in 2022. Russian propaganda has specifically claimed the Soviets as Russian. As a result, the Soviet erais no longer perceived as a part of Ukrainian history, but instead mostly as the Russian present. This leads to growing intolerance and hatred in society towards heritage associated with this time. Due to such manipulations, many Ukrainians are eager to get rid of the cultural heritage of the country´s complex colonial past. But it is also the past of a country that even during totalitarian […]

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Yevheniia Moliar

23.11.2023

17:30

The Disidentified Subject: On the Critique of the Critique of Identity Politics (GER)

With surprising regularity, German journalism discovers ‘identity politics’ as a present-day problem, but has difficulty in two respects to give a precise description of what makes this form of politics a problem. On the one hand, the critique tends to frame ‘identity’ as a very recent category and thus ignores both the now considerable tradition of identity politics approaches and the long tradition and provenance of its own criticism. On the other hand, the critique must understand the relationship to the identity categories in the forms of politics it objects to as sharply different from ‘normal’ or ‘traditional’ forms of politics. This form of critique can be found across the political spectrum. For example, it can be just as effective from a left-wing perspective as from a liberal one. There is something self-understood about it in both German and US […]

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Adrian Daub

24.11.2023

09:15

Vibe and Violence: Picturesque Architecture and Urban Planning in the English and German-Speaking World Since the 18th Century. An Aesthetic Concept of Affective Control and (Social) Spatial Segregation (GER)

The picturesque, popular primarily in English and German-speaking countries, emerged in the architectural, urban planning, and cultural discourses of the 18th to 20th centuries. The term, often referred to as das Malerische in German, describes atmospheric and idyllic phenomena that characterize the vernacular, the landscape, and the identity-nostalgic, usually in ostensible contrast to the industrialized cities and rationalising planning strategies. Beginning in landscape painting and garden design, the concept has since been applied in architecture and urban planning, theme park design, tourism marketing, and image production in print and digital media. From the 18th century onwards, nation-building in Europe and the USA has been accompanied by new aesthetic concepts like the picturesque, that affectively evoke collective identity and memory formation and can be effective in the sense of a ‘containment’ strategy. Collectives, regimes, and corporations have appropriated the controlling potential of this concept and continue […]

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Philipp Krüpe

24.11.2023

09:55

Notions of a Historically Determined City Identity and an Exclusive Politics of Memory in the ‘Naval City’ Wilhelmshaven (GER)

The northern German city of Wilhelmshaven was founded more than 150 years ago as a purpose-built naval base, and for decades remained a hub for Germany’s expansionist naval activities. This history is still present in the structure of the city’s urban realm, its built environment, and its continuing role as a naval base. Acknowledging this presence, parts of the city’s political establishment and civic community present the navy and its history during Germany’s imperial era as the city’s historical essence and inescapable identity, which the city cannot deny, but can only accept. This is expressed in historical-political debates, practices of remembrance, and symbolic marking of urban space: bronze statues of Wilhelm I and Bismarck were newly erected, a Kaiser-Wilhelm emoji with a spiked helmet served as the logo for the city’s 150th anniversary, the waterfront promenade is still named after […]

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Leon Biela

24.11.2023

10:35

(De)constructing Pelourinho Through Memory: On the Social Construction of a Symbolic Black Place in Brazil (GER)

Pelourinho is the name of a district in the historic centre of Salvador da Bahia that was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985 as a “colonial city par excellence” and enjoys widespread recognition as a symbolic centre of Black empowerment in Brazil and beyond. A closer look reveals a telling contradiction between the literal meaning of the name of the district and its significance as a Symbolic Black Place and is the point of departure of the lecture. Pelourinho is the Portuguese term for the pillory that served as a site for the public punishment of enslaved people in Brazilian colonial cities until the early 19th century. It is a symbol of colonial authority and prosecution that once manifested itself as a structural element in the urban space of Salvador da Bahia and permanently inscribed itself into […]

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Gabriela Iracema Randig

24.11.2023

11:45

Positionalities and Identities in the Museum – Our Path Towards a More Personal and Reflexive Institutional Praxis (GER)

Museums are often perceived as objective, neutral places (Gesser et al. 2020). By means of what is preserved and exhibited, as well as which objects, knowledge and narratives are excluded, they contribute significantly to the dominant memory practices and the perception of individuals and communities, along with their respective identities. The imaginary objectivity is not usually questioned by museum staff, nor is it challenged in research projects that view the institution as a single entity rather than a ‘peopled’ one (Boersma 2023; Morse et al. 2018). Accordingly, the positionalities of practitioners are hardly reflected as part of museum praxis. Our presentation puts the critical reflection of our own positionalities at the centre. We first engage with the notion of identity, and distinguish the various identities negotiated within the museum: a narrative identity, which surfaces in exhibitions; an institutional one, which […]

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Nushin Atmaca, Susanne Boersma

24.11.2023

12:25

Brazilian Social Museology, Identity, and Resistance (EN)

The museum is an ancient European institution that prompted the emergence of museology as an independentdiscipline. The field has grown to provide academic endorsement to practitioners and to broaden the study of techniques of collecting, preserving, studying, and displaying cultural heritage towards reflecting the role of museums to society. This response to meeting social demands was especially reinforced by the New Museology movement that took shape and spread worldwide in the 20th century. In the early 2000s, through intellectual exchanges with Lusófona University in Portugal, these dynamics influenced new public policies in Brazil.Among other things, they enabled the establishment of both the Maré Museum and the Museu de Favela in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the Memory Spots Program as a decentralized initiative conceived and implemented by the national government to foster grassroots experiences around social memory. They have since become a resistance instrument […]

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Erica de Abreu Malchow

24.11.2023

15:00

Hidden Heritage, Segregated Spaces: Uncovering Socio-Spatial Negotiations of Highly Skilled Indian Migrants in Frankfurt am Main (EN)

This lecture provides an in-depth exploration of the socio-spatial experiences of highly skilled Indian migrants (HSM) in Frankfurt, Germany’s largest demographic of skilled migrants. The study is particularly relevant and vital given the astounding 550% increase in this demographic over the last ten years. Using a variety of methodologies, including urban mapping, interviews, and discourse analysis, the research brings to light the challenges of residential segregation and cultural heritage invisibility faced by Indian HSM. The research uncovers the discrimination that leads to migrant segregation within the city and the lack of visibility of cultural heritage, with religious institutions such as temples and gurudwaras housed in repurposed buildings located in industrial suburbs of Frankfurt. The lecture, set within the context of the 7th Annual Conference of the DFG Research Training Group “Identity and Heritage”, underscores the construction of identity amidst complex […]

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Dhara Patel

24.11.2023

15:40

“We Are Already Standing Here a Few Hundred Years”: Negotiating Heritage and Identity in Amsterdam’s Red-Light District (EN)

The Amsterdam red-light district, De Wallen, is increasingly at the centre of debates about the city’s urban challenges concerning crime, tourism, and liveability. Plans for an ”erotic centre” outside the city have mobilized residents, municipal actors, and entrepreneurs to question who and what belongs in this urban district. On the one hand, mass tourism has led to feelings of “estrangement” and a loss of place-identity, resulting in demands for the relocation of sex work. On the other hand, long-term residents and entrepreneurs whose sense of place is linked to the red-light character of the district are contesting gentrification processes and the ongoing/ continued ousting of the sex trade. As the inner-city landscape is being remade to fit the city’s neoliberal aspirations, I will explore these ambivalent experiences of neighbourhood change by discussing the meaning and role of ‘heritage’ and ‘identity’ within broader urban […]

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Nina Gribling

24.11.2023

16:20

The Research and Mediation Project “A Future for whose Past? The Heritage of Minorities, Fringe Groups and People without a Lobby” for the 50th Anniversary of the “European Architectural Heritage Year” (GER)

The motto of the European Architectural Heritage Year of 1975 was “A Future for our Past”. Fifty years later, in light of the consequences of war, climate change, migration, and displacement, we are faced with the question of whether we can still speak of one past and one heritage. The cultural turn, postcolonialism, and critical heritage studies have changed the concept of heritage from a canonical to a discursive epistemology. Minorities demand that another approach to monuments replaces normative concepts of identity. Baukulturand building conservation challenge the value system of monument preservation. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the EAHY, the research and mediation project A Future for their Past? The Heritage of Minorities, Fringe Groups and People without a Lobby by ICOMOS Suisse and the Chair of Construction Heritage and Preservation at ETH Zurich, asks, whose heritage we are talking about and who determines society’s memory? This […]

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Regine Hess