Monuments for the Present
Monuments for the Present is an exhibition that sets out to examine how public monuments in the UK have been the focus of debate and action that question dominant narratives of national identity, imperialist extraction, and white supremacy.
Monuments for the Present’ is a participatory action research project co-created by the creative initiative Monuments for Equality (Paria Goodarzi, Mia Gubbay and Francesca Zappia) and Maryhill Integration Network Museum of Things Art Group.
It will be presented in two exhibitions at the Centre for Contemporary Arts and the School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, during the Glasgow International and Refugee Scotland festivals in June 2024.
Over the past few years, public monuments in the UK have been the focus of debate and action that question dominant narratives of national identity, imperialist extraction, and white supremacy.
The project investigates how social and structural inequalities influence people's experience of the past, present and future, how this experience shapes different value systems, and how these values can be represented in the public space. It inherently tackles stigmas (institutional, public and self) through facilitating ways that enable people with lived experience of navigating the immigration system as refugees and asylum seekers, to collectively claim and reimagine the public space of the city.