Racist heritage in cities: cancel, contextualise or rethink history?

Image

Streets, monuments, statues: since the death of the Afro-American George Floyd, who suffocated under the knee of a white police officer, and the international movement that stemmed from this tragedy, the question of paying homage in public areas to people who encouraged racism and colonialism has taken on a new dimension.

What place should these symbols be given in modern society? Who do we want to celebrate in public areas? What history do we want to honour? How should we accompany the presence of these symbols in public areas?

Open the debate

On the initiative of Mayor Sami Kanaan, the City of Geneva wishes to open the debate and foster a multi-faceted reflection process concerning its colonial heritage and the racist monuments present in public areas.

Organised in the form of a round table, the event intends to bring together elected representatives, experts and representatives of the civil society to debate the issue of racist heritages in public areas and discuss the practices adopted in this regard with cities both in Switzerland and abroad.

To further these reflections, the City of Geneva has invited other cities to share their experiences and the methods they implement to manage their problematic heritage and to shed more light on those people expunged from history at the heart of urban public areas.

Introduction

Sami Kanaan, Mayor of Geneva

Speakers

Carine Ayélé Durand, Head Curator at the Museum of Ethnography of Geneva (MEG)
Thomas Facchinetti, Municipal Councillor responsible for the Department of Culture, Integration and Social Cohesion of the City of Neuchâtel
Jacques Martial, Delegate Councillor of the City of Paris responsible for Overseas Territories
Christof Meier, Head of the Promotion of Integration in the City of Zurich
Pamela Ohene-Nyako, Afro-feminist, founder of the Afrolitt platform and historian

Chair

Marie-Amaëlle Touré, journalist, Le Temps

An audience limited to 40 people is invited to participate. The event will be broadcast live (more information to come)

Registration

Limited places and mandatory reservation by e-mail to @email, indicating your name, first name, telephone number and number of people.