Art & Memory - WAMM

Art as Method

Art should comfort the disturbed And disturb the comfortable

Cesare A. Cruz

Similar to history, memory or any interpretation of the past, art too is a representation of reality. To ‘represent’ is to speak or act on behalf of someone, or to portray someone or something in a particular way. 

Art has a powerful way of drawing people in and making them reflect in very particular ways. It makes us notice, register and acknowledge things that we otherwise would not. Even something as natural as a water lily can lead us to deep contemplation, simply because of the very special way in which Monet portrays, in other words, ‘represent’ the water lilies. 

If representation is one of the magical powers of art, (though not without its dilemmas and contradictions!), it is only one of the countless number of ways in which art wields power. In its broad sense, art is a powerful tool of education, contemplation, dialogue and activism. The ‘functions’ of art are many; some personal, some social, some aesthetic, and some clinical. Individuals and their society are dynamically related. Thus, art can have powerful transformative and restorative effects within a society as well as individuals.  

Towards curating a museum of art and memory

The curatorial vision of World Art and Memory Museum (WAMM) is based on transcending borders: of art and education; of innermost personal turmoil and tumultuous public tragedies; of history and memory; of ugliness and beauty and ultimately of time and geography. Our goal is to bring together art from different corners of the world responding to matters of personal and collective memory. WAMM is a singular platform offering a wide assemblage of art dealing with contemporary and historical issues, such as war, discrimination and human suffering from Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. Collectively, the curators have explored the ways in which art activates memory, archives memory, heals traumatic memory, challenge partial memory and, even becomes memory.  

Promoting artist-activists

The artists here often work in life-threatening situations, confronting dire situations of war and human rights violations. They find themselves struggling alone, putting their lives at risk in vocalizing their realities through their work, as their work is often seen as instigating conflicts, revealing ‘ugly truths’ that are ‘better forgotten’. They receive little support from governments, corporate industries, or even people themselves, as they bring painful issues of the past to the table. However, in doing so, they become valuable and ‘beautiful’ records of human circumstances for those who wish to reflect and learn from them. We believe that this collection of world art offers a wealth of ‘modern’ insights and nuances overlooked by history books and news headlines. In South Africa a Xhosa saying goes, “kufuneka usike inxeba ukuze liphiliswe’: We have to cut the wound to have it heal!

Promoting arts education and arts integrated education 

Promoting a form of education based on artistic appreciation, reflection and dialogue is a cornerstone of our curatorial vision. Modern education is falling short of addressing the most important aspects of global challenges, simply because it reveres information above values, generalities above nuances, productivity over creativity and competition over collaboration. Art, if considered a form of education, has the power to transcend these dichotomies and push human thinking ‘ahead of our times’. It can counter power, survive their creators and become guiding lights to those who are able to connect with it.

Promoting inter-cultural understanding and cross-border collaboration

From day one, WAMM was owned and driven by a group of individuals from different parts of the world dedicated to establishing a platform for exchange of ideas, learning from each other and working together to celebrate diversity, creativity and humanity. 

How to use the resources in this website

We have tried to showcase artists and their works from different countries under their own countries. To help audiences to look across the border we are also presenting them under eight thematic categories: 

1. Personal Identity
2. Gender
3. Discrimination 
4. War + Violence + Militarization 
5. Colonialism + Slavery
6. Immigration + Displacement + Homelessness
7. Dictatorship + Political Oppression 
8. History + Culture + Religion

We also have filtering possibilities according to mediums.

Country pages and introductions to artists are there to facilitate your exploration of different cultural contexts. To facilitate a dialogue between the audience and the artwork we have tried to present curatorial notes regarding aesthetic, socio-political or historical aspects of art. 

In future we hope to introduce a teachers’ corner, a series of virtual exhibitions, webinars and multimedia content to keep our audiences engaged. 

Working towards a common vision with cultural differences

All societies have their own unique ways of transmitting knowledge and experience to the next generation and the collection that is presented here illustrates this point well. Within our general vision of art bearing witness to history, we have allowed each and every individual country to work with a curatorial vision that works for their specific context. Therefore, country pages give you an introduction to the country, the art scene and socio-political history. Each country works with a slightly different set of topics, which is carefully reflected upon by our team of curators, who live and work in the countries they represent. In fact, they are also activists, educators and artists themselves. They have been working, communicating closely with the artists featured here and came together at the workshop ‘Curating Cultures of Remembrance’ in 2019 to jointly curate this collaborative initiative.

A museum without a physical space or a physical collection

We are not a museum in the known-sense of the word. We only have virtual space which brings us together. Our curators work from their offices, homes and studios across the world. 

We do not own the art featured here. All artists are represented by their galleries from across the world. We are merely bringing them together at WAMM, so that we have an archive of art that records, bears witness to our unique but similar circumstances. Most importantly an opportunity to jointly reflect and imagine our shared futures.

We hope that eventually, more artists, educators, activists and countries will join WAMM.