Refresh
Jean-Brice Lachaux (Frateli), Anne-Pia Marty (CRI), Layla Stahr (Harvard), Michael Wong (Harvard)
Contemporary commemorations, such as the traditional Bastille Day parade or the Tribute in Light art installation in New York City, do little to help people understand about events in the past. Just like pathways in the brain can be retriggered periodically in order to prevent loss of memories, the collective memory of people in a city can be refreshed as well.
The event that we will use as a case study is the 50th anniversary of the protests of May 1968. We want to help Parisians achieve a deeper understanding of what it meant to be Parisian at this time through temporary displays and performances designed to attract them by disrupting their regular routines.
Our goal is to spark conversations between people and their close friends or family about the protests of 1968 and thus refresh the city’s collective memory. Our focus is on evoking feelings and recreating the atmosphere of the protests of 1968 rather than simply trying to reenact them: forming an emotional connection to an event will make it memorable.
