Who Owns the Past/Present?

Spring 2022 Workshop with Sergio Beltrán-García

April 5 - May 1 | Final Celebration: Sunday, May 1, 2022

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Our understanding of memory is grounded in the past. Historically, monuments were built to preserve only certain histories and legacies, erasing others from memory. How do we create space for multiple, alternative, and overlooked histories? What is our right to memory and how can we access it? How can we use art to bring history and memory into the present, speak to our evolving realities, and shape our future? 

Led by Teaching Artist Sergio Beltrán-García, and inspired by his The Dispersed Memorial project and the Shaping the Past exhibition at Goethe-Institut, “Who Owns the Past/Present?” is a Workshop on monuments, memorials, memory, representation, and justice. Through a series of collaborative art workshops, site visits, readings, and conversations, Youth Artists explored how a memorial can become a tool for positive change and how to critique existing monuments. Students learned about inclusive and participatory approaches to monuments and memorialization, and had the opportunity to think creatively about questions of history, representation, and accessibility.

Together, Youth Artists researched, conceptualized, and built a collaborative memorial in public space that honors the personal and collective histories that are important to us. Located at Goethe-Institut Boston’s front garden oak tree, each youth contributed a ribbon to memorialize what's important to them. Some chose to celebrate a part of their identity, others to reflect on the COVID-19 pandemic, and others to remember people they have lost and condemn acts of violence.