SONJA LEBO

Mnemopolitics. Mnemotopias. Mnemopoetics

This paper is based on the formats and experiences derived from two projects: Cybercinematography and Mnemosyne – Theater of Memories. Cybercinematography is a project which uses public and private film and visual archives to illuminate public spaces. In further aspects it builds trans-local web platforms to manage intercultural narratives emerging from different aspects of sometimes hidden and/or censored public archives as well from the interplay of simulacras moving its shadows on same walls, streets and ’soft’ human tissue of cities which once instigated their generating. So, it is both about defining overwhelming presence of stories inscribed in the consolidated master-plan of a city, as well about creating a modus to incite production of new narratives of a particular public space. Cybercinematography results in a very site-specific audio-visual media-scape, an idiosyncratic urbography, based on ideas of Burian’s and Kouril’s Theatregraph and Swoboda’s Polyecran, which, transferred to new sets and new media form innovative strategies for interventions in perception of public spaces.

Mnemosyne – Theater of Memories tackles the underlying structure of emerging right-wing populist outlook being present in many European countries which is, again, being inscribed both in public spaces and collective memories, as well history textbooks and dominant curricula. This project is trying to establish links to counter-public, and to discourage still prevailing discourses which have been insisting on teaching national histories in supposedly (economically, formally politically but certainly not culturally) united Europe.