Accessibility statement

Conversation pieces

Posted on 9 June 2017

Colleague comments on controversial installations

York lecturer Géraldine Enjelvin has had two articles published in The Conversation, the web-based daily news and analysis outlet which publishes features and commentary pieces by academics that are aimed at a wider readership. The first, Quand l’écriture mémorielle se heurte à un mur ['When memorial writing collides with a wall'], concerns the 'wall of names' built near the Alsace-Moselle Memorial to facilitate the reconciliation of memories. However, the decision led to the beginning of another war of memories between the memory groups concerned, in part because the wall commemorates inhabitants of the French areas of Alsace-Moselle who were forcibly drafted into the German armed forces during WWII, and are still regarded by many as traitors or Nazi sympathisers.

The second article, Œuvres d'art sur les campus universitaires: des choix suicidaires? [Works of art on university campuses: suicidal choices?], discusses the University of East Anglia's controversial decision to place one of Antony Gormley’s statues on top of the campus library. Its detractors claim that the human-shaped sculpture looks like someone about to commit suicide. According to a recent report by The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), depression and loneliness affect one in three students, and the number of student suicides is rising. Can placing works of art on campus be a 'suicidal choice'?

‌

Who to contact

For additional information, or if you have a news or event item to contribute, please contact:

News and events