Spore hosts: The Art of Memory in Times of Trauma and Grief

In times of trauma and grief, it is an art to remember. Trauma can cover memory like an avalanche. Memory haunts the traumatized as a ghost, as an uncanny feeling and embodied perception. The direct path to the past is blocked. Unavailable knowledge is replaced by imaginary images, strong emotions, sometimes even phantasmatic scenes. Does this also open up a space for the imagination, a space for art? Is art a medium of trauma?

The fact that the art and cultural scene is under pressure from political interference may be due to the fact that it opens up a space in which traumas become accessible––as zones of indeterminacy and radical unavailability. At a moment when clear demarcations seem necessary, art, in its logic of refusing explainability, is seemingly difficult to endure.

The current haste to intervene in the arts, public funding and exhibition politics, seems to follow the script of a memory culture that is based on supposed unambiguities and ultimately (re)produces exclusions: Under the premise of the German reason of state (Staatsräson), which centers on unconditional support for Israel's policies, Jewish life is to be protected by partly repressive measures, which, often lead to Palestinian life and Palestinian narratives not being perceived.

These politics raise questions: Does one suspect that in the post-migrant present, several truths intersect and different traumatizations clash (Inan 2022)? Does one feel confronted with the inadequacy of not being able to deal with anti-Semitism in one's own ranks when dealing with the trauma of the Holocaust in terms of memory politics (Rothberg)? Doesn't a trauma-centered politics of remembrance run the risk of forever defining people affected by violence and their descendants as victims (Hirsch 2024)?

The event does not seek conclusive answers, but it does link the question of the art of memory to the desire to discuss memory beyond the hegemonic scripts. This also means that we want to discuss memory as an artistic form. We see art as a medium of trauma, as a way of exploring connections. So, what can art achieve in times of deep grief and how can it be a medium for a practice of not isolating from each other in trauma, but connecting in grief?