Abstract

This paper explores case studies based on autoethnographic research and the ICTY archives, reinterpreting documented history through visual narratives. Composite memory of experiences resonates with the topography of our identity, establishing osmosis between the past and the present. The process of revealing tangible and elusive boundaries constructs a journey, intertwined with personal reflections and evolved into a set of renewed memories. The autobiographical accounts represent a twofold transformation of lived life: first, the figuration into memory of experiences and sensations, and then the transmutation of that memory into a coherent narrative. Mental flexibility to recombine fragments of memory leads to an analytical and conceptual process of abstraction. Visual language and layers of interpretation attempt to bring back the failing memory. Lingering fragments begin to emerge, but often they are infiltrated by invisible voices, threads of previous recognition, and shattered graphic flashbacks. Case studies shift scale from the most intimate storytelling using war journals, to tactile representation of how one story becomes part of collective memory, and finally as visual insertion into a public domain to preserve, educate, and retrace difficult history. Juxtaposition of communicative and cultural memory is useful in defining the connection and gap between potential and actual cultural memories – one being stored in museums, archives and libraries, and the other (re)interpreted with new meaning for current socio-political contexts. Creating visual narratives as platform for cultural dialogue serves as a reminder that collective memory and dispersion of historical facts have inspirational impact on second-hand witnesses and future generations.

Presenters

Selma Ćatović Hughes
Adjunct, College of Architecture, Art and Design, American University of Sharjah, Ash Shariqah [Sharjah], United Arab Emirates

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

The Arts in Social, Political, and Community Life

KEYWORDS

Visual Narrative, Memory, Collective Remembrance, Intergenerational Framework, Difficult Histories

Digital Media

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