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Front Row: How should we memorialise in the 21st century?

03/05/2021

How should we memorialise in the 21st century?

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, How should we memorialise in the 21st century?

Artists and writers reflect on recent approaches to memorials.

From the poppies at the Tower of London to the new National Covid Memorial Wall, artists and writers reflect on the role of the memorial today.

The National Covid Memorial Wall on the bank of the Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament is an unofficial site of remembrance and reflection for the 150,000 or so individuals who've died from Covid.

Artists and writers consider the role and design of memorials in the 21st century, from the poppies at The Tower of London in 2014 which toured the UK, to the recent controversy of the toppling of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol, and the proposed memorial to enslaved Africans and their descendants.

Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz discusses his new statue 'April is the Cruellest Month' which has just been unveiled in Margate, which he describes as both a memorial and a monument. Anne McElvoy and historian Kate Williams consider the changing culture and significance of memorials. Oku Ekpenyon recounts her struggle to create a new memorial to slaves whose labour brought wealth to the UK, and writer Spencer Bailey considers how architects across the world  have responded to recent and historic tragic events in the last four decades.

Presenter John Wilson
Producer Jerome Weatherald

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How should we memorialise in the 21st century?

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