Pope.L brought art to the people, reaching beyond institutions and into the street, putting statements about the condition of Black Americans out into the open. With vivid defiance, Juanita McNeely captured American women’s experiences, making a painting about abortion before the original passing of Roe v. Wade. Vera Molnár propelled us forward with her early usages of computers in her art.

Others left far too soon: Lin May Saeed, whose art encouraged empathy with animals and activist musings, and Vincent Honoré, whose cutting-edge exhibition and criticism championed women and queer artists.

In the case of painter Brice Marden, Barry Schwabsky recalled for Art in America, “It seemed as though Brice Marden had always been there and always would be.” While we may take these continued presences for granted, it’s important to recall the impact that Marden and others have made. As Schwabsky writes, “He managed to make each of us a little bit more an artist.”

Perhaps, then, we ought to remember signs of the people who left us in 2023 will always be with us. Below, a brief look back at the lives of 28 artists, collectors, curators, and more who died in 2023.

In an interview with the Guardian, Greek culture minister Lina Mendoni promised a trade agreement that would ensure treasures from Greek antiquities are always displayed at the London institution.

“Our position is clear,” she said. “Should the sculptures be reunited in Athens, Greece is prepared to organize rotating exhibitions of important antiquities that would fill the void.” Asked to elaborate on which treasures would be exchanged, Mendoni said that ongoing discussions had not reached such specifics.

“[The works] would fill the void, maintain, and constantly renew, international visitor interest in the Greek galleries of the British Museum,” Mendoni added. However, she clarified that “any agreement and all its particulars, would have to be in accordance with the Greek law on cultural heritage.”

Mendoni’s statements suggest a magnanimous turn in relations between Greece and the British Museum, capping a year of sputtered negotiations and public rebukes. The centuries-old dispute over whether the Parthenon Marbles belong in England, where they currently reside, or in Greece, from which they originate, continued in 2023, with both sides speaking of “a partnership” that could bring a “win-win” solution.

Whether 2024 will finally bring the long-running dispute to a close remains uncertain. This past January, the British Museum, which has held the sculptures since 1832, confirmed that it had been meeting with Greece over a potential loan agreement, only for Medoni to announce days later that there was no possibility of a deal affirming the United Kingdom’s ownership claim of the sculptures.

“We repeat, once again, our country’s firm position that it does not recognize the British Museum’s jurisdiction, possession and ownership of the Sculptures, as they are the product of theft,” her statement read.

And in November, tensions again rose after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak publicly accused Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of “grandstanding” over the contested artworks. Sunak later called off a meeting with Mitsotakis hours before it was set to start. Mitsotakis, for his part, told the Associated Press that, “There was a positive side to the cancellation of this meeting, that it gained even more publicity … [for] the fair request of Greece for the reunification of the sculptures of the Parthenon.”

In the United States and Europe, however, another battle has been waged since October 7, this one on social media, in the streets, in newspapers, and in the court of public opinion, to determine who and what causes are deserving of empathy and what kind of protest is acceptable or just. It is a battle that has brokered no neutrality and certainly no unity. Action and inaction and words spoken or not said have all become indictments of the soul, depending on the stance of the viewer.

Nowhere has this battle been waged more vociferously than in the art industry, with its uneasy foundation of collectors and trustees and government-funded institutions and clutches of artists and curators with deeply-considered moral commitments and political ethoses. The Israel-Hamas conflict, as its become known outside the Middle East, has revealed vast chasms in the art world and, for the first time, left a trail of consequences that is still ongoing: critics fired, funding pulled, protests staged, exhibitions shuttered, and institutions ended. 

With the end of the war nowhere in sight, the Palestinian liberation movement reinvigorated amongst social justice circles, and an overheated political climate, it is likely we are seeing a reshaping of the art industry in real time.

Open Letters & Boycotts

On October 26, the New York Times reported that Artforum editor David Velasco had been fired following the publication of a letter that called for a ceasefire in Gaza and for Palestinian liberation. That letter—not the first, but the most explosive of its sort to circulate after October 7—was organized by the UK-based organization Artists for Palestine in the week after the attack and signed by thousands of well-known artists, as well as Velasco and several Artforum staffers. Despite its origins, it became near-ubiquitously known as the “the Artforum letter” given the institutional power of the publication. To many, because the letter initially ran with little context, it appeared to be a statement from the magazine.

The letter inspired outrage by some in the art world because it initially failed to note the October 7 Hamas attack. Days after Artforum published the letter, dealers Dominique Lévy, Brett Gorvy, and Amalia Dayan penned a short response published by the magazine in which they wrote that they “condemn the open letter for its one-sided view.” Not long after that, a new letter, titled “A United Call from the Art World: Advocating for Humanity,” appeared, signed by high-profile dealers, artists, and other cultural workers. It referred to “an uninformed letter signed by artists who do not represent the artistic community at large,” without naming Artforum. It referred at length to Hamas’s actions, but did not specifically mention the thousands of Gazans since killed by Israel, and called for all to “stand united in opposing acts of terrorism and instead advocate for humanity.” Within days, Velasco was fired; two senior editors quit in protest. It was public art industry in-fighting, with advertising, patronage, and character on the line. The stakes were—are—grim.

Artforum‘s publishers, for their part, said the way the original letter was run was “not consistent with Artforum’s editorial process” because the article “was shared on Artforum’s website and social platforms without our, or the requisite senior members of the editorial team’s, prior knowledge.” In a statement to Vanity Fair, a spokesperson for Penske Media Corporation, which owns Artforum and ARTnews, said that the letter “lacked necessary context … making it unclear it originated from outside of Artforum.”

Shortly after Velasco was fired, hundreds of Artforum contributors past and present signed an attestation letter saying they would no longer contribute to the magazine or to ARTnews and Art in America, which are also owned by PMC. The boycott continues.

Still, more letters arrived: In December, more than 1,300 visual artists, writers, and actors signed an open letter accusing Western cultural institutions of “silencing and stigmatizing” Palestinian voices and perspectives. The signatories wrote that this includes “targeting and threatening the livelihoods of artists and arts workers who express solidarity with Palestinians, as well as canceling performances, screenings, talks, exhibitions and book launches.”

The signatories cited, among other incidents, the Arnolfini, Bristol’s international center for contemporary arts, canceling two events that were part of the city’s Palestine Film Festival. In a statement, the institution said it withdrew from hosting the poetry reading and film screening because, as an arts charity, it was not allowed to host what could be “construed as political activity.”

The letter warned that “many artists are refusing to work with institutions that fail to meet [these] basic obligations” to support freedom of expression and Palestinian artists. 

Accusations of Censorship Rock Museums

From New York to Berlin and Ontario, reports have surfaced of opportunities for artists and arts organizations rescinded due to their public support for Palestine. 

In October, Palestinian artist Emily Jacir reported that a talk she’d planned to give in Berlin had been canceled. That same month, a conference about antisemitism and racism that was co-organized by artist Candice Breitz was canceled, with an agency run by the German government saying that it was no longer possible to “lead and moderate this debate constructively.”

The following month, Lisson Gallery canceled plans to stage an Ai Weiwei show following a since-deleted tweet by the artist that was critical of US aid to Israel. The gallery said in a statement that, “There is no place for debate that can be characterized as anti-Semitic or Islamophobic.” The news was met with anger from Ai’s supporters, who took issue with the stance that criticisms of the Israeli government amounted to anti-Semitism. In a recent interview, Ai said the cancellation and the current moment “mirrors an authoritarian culture, reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution in China and the tragic events in Germany decades ago.”

The same week of the Ai Weiwei cancellation, the Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany, closed a portion of a planned group show in response to the curator Anaïs Duplan’s sharing and commenting on several Pro-Palestine posts on Instagram. Museum director Peter Gorschlüter wrote in an email shared by Duplan on Instagram that Duplan’s social media activity put the museum “in a situation that the museum might be considered to support antisemitic tendencies and voices that question the very right of existence of the state Israel.” Elsewhere in Germany, the Saarland Museum canceled a solo exhibition of Breitz planned for 2024 after the artist called for a permanent ceasefire while also condemning Hamas. Breitz, who was born in South Africa and is now based in Berlin, is Jewish. 

In a statement to ARTnews, Breitz called the development “deeply antisemitic,” and said it casts Germans in a position of judgment over what Jewish people may say and/or think, without allowance for due process, let alone civil conversation.” In perhaps the most extreme case, the Berlin-based alternative space Oyoun was forced to close after its funding was pulled in response to it hosting an event for Jewish Voice for Peace, a Jewish-led organization critical of Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

Several German art spaces have maintained support of Palestinian artists. The Kunstverein München in Munich faced pressure to cancel a show by the Palestinian artist Noor Abuarafeh after some raised concerns regarding posts about the Hamas attack that she posted to her private Instagram account, according to Monopol. The museum, however, will not shutter the exhibition, and said in a statement that it did not view the show’s “closure to be an appropriate response to this conflict.”

Documenta, the closely-watched exhibition in Germany who last edition was marked by antisemitism allegations, is in shambles after its entire selection committee resigned.

Artists speaking out in support of Israel have not recieved the same backlash. In mid-October, days after a survey of Judy Chicago’s work opened at the New Museum, the artist lamented on Instagram those “blaming Israel/Jews for the response to Hamas’ fifty years of denying our right to exist,” seemingly referring to criticism of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. Hamas, meanwhile, was founded in 1987—a fact which many pointed out in a series of negative comments calling for Chicago to apologize. Chicago did not end up changing her post or commenting any further on it.

Similarly, Israeli and Jewish artists making work in response to October 7 and the ensuring war have not been admonished by institutional figures for not acknowledging or depicting Palestinian loss of life, as Palestinian artists have often been in regards to the attack. For example, earlier this month, the Jewish Museum in New York installed 12 mixed-media works on paper from Israeli artist Zoya Cherkassky-Nnadi’s “7 October 2023” series, depicting the October 7 attack in haunting figures on black backgrounds.

Protests Across New York and elsewhere

Amidst this political polarization, demonstrations visited, and in some cases, targeted, prominent cultural institutions in New York City. 

In Early November, some 500 protestors affiliated with JVP, including artists Nan Goldin and Molly Crabapple, gathered at the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor to demand a permanent ceasefire. Goldin, who also spearheaded an influential campaign against the Sackler philanthropy, was awarded the top spot on ArtReview‘s Power 100 list for 2023. In its citation, the magazine said this year’s list is “dominated by artists who are using their platforms not just to discuss freedom but to practice it too, intervening through deeds as well as words (and images) in the pressing and social political issues of the current moment.” 

On November 22, the main entrance of the Whitney was splashed with fake blood as protestors with Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a Palestinian-led community organization, chanted, among other slogans, “Ken Griffin is a terrorist,” in reference to former Whitney board member and Citadel CEO who was critical of pro-Palestine student actions at his alma mater, Harvard University.  The demonstration at the Whitney coincided with a ceasefire march in Manhattan, during which protestors traveled along the west side of the island but were stopped by police from entering The High Line, the suspended public park that passes by the museum.

On November 23, Thanksgiving Day for Americans, a protest that started at the New York Public Library in Manhattan resulted in as much as $75,000 in graffiti damage to the historic structure, per Gothamist. Pro-Palestine activists reportedly defaced the marble fountain and part of the facade engraved with the name of Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO of the investment management firm Blackstone. Schwarzman donated $100 million to the library in 2008 for renovations and pledged $7 million in aid to Israel in October.  

In the last demonstration of that weekend, on November 25, hundreds of pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered at Columbus Circle and marched north to the American Museum of Natural History. Protesters who attempted to enter the museum were barred by police.

In the weeks since, protests have continued across New York, and the major cities all over the world. The war in Gaza too has continued apace.

Amid a flurry of Tribeca openings, the downtown gallery ecosystem shrunk: Queer Thoughts, the taste-making operation that promoted the careers of off-beat talents like Diamond Stingily, Mindy Rose Schwartz, and Puppies Puppies, closed in September after 11 years; Denny Gallery, a decade-old outfit, said in October that it would shutter, marking the fourth gallery in the neighborhood to cease business within three months. Foxy Production, a veteran space that helped spur the careers of artists such as Sterling Ruby and Sara Cwynar, ended its gallery program after 20 years in business. JTT, from Jasmin T. Tsou, a beloved purveyor of artists who snubbed what was in vogue for what personally scintillated, inciting trends in the process (as only the truly cool can), also closed. 

A brutal rent market, blue-chip enterprises snagging rising stars from small and mid-size competitors—galleries end in New York for myriad reasons, and few are willing to divulge the details. The founders of Foxy said in a statement that “it is now time for [the gallery] to take on new forms”; Queer Thoughts, when contacted by ARTnews, said “we decided to close the gallery to pursue other projects, namely our individual artistic practices.”

Mystery aside, each closure marks one less platform for hard-to-define, often off-beat art and curation (I’m thinking of a 2015 show at Queer Thoughts based on the character Gollum from the Lord of the Rings series). 

Well, we’ll always have uptown—even if it continues to move further south. Throughout 2023, a stream of midsize and blue-chip galleries opened branches in Tribeca. Tim Blum, of the Los Angeles–based gallery Blum & Poe, announced that he would remove his former partner Jeff Poe’s name from the gallery, close its Upper East Side location, and move to White Street. Another Los Angeles stalwart, Anat Ebgi, opened a branch on the stretch of Broadway already home to Arnie Glimcher’s project space, 125 Newbury, and P.P.O.W. Next year, the block will welcome dealer Marian Goodman, as well as Alexander Gray Associates.

Realtor and art collector Jonathan Travis, a key strategist in the rebranding of Tribeca as New York’s hippest arts hub, told ARTnews earlier this year, “So many people were under the wrong impression, that galleries were driven out of Chelsea based on rents.” As the price-per-square foot is roughly comensurate in Tribeca and Chelsea—around $100-$120—the migration, he added, is more about “feeling than balance sheets.”

The vibe shift, it seems, continues.

In November, the Arnolfini cancelled a screening of Farha (2021), a coming-of-age story set during the Nakba, the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine war, by Jordanian-Palestinian director Darin J. Sallam. The screening was set to be followed by a Q&A with the Palestinian writer and doctor Ghada Karmi. The center was also scheduled to host a poetry reading headlined by the rapper and activist Lowkey. The screening of Farha will now be hosted at the arts charity Watershed, while the poetry event will take place at the department store and arts hub Sparks Bristol.

On November 20, an open letter criticizing the Arnolfini’s decision was signed by more than 2,300 cultural figures. The institution responded a day later, saying in a statement that, as an arts charity, it was barred from promoting what could be “construed as political activity.” However, the statement was swiftly scorned after it appeared online, with critics pointing to numerous political events organized by the Arnolfini in recent years, including a fundraiser for Ukraine disaster relief.

“This had not been a serious concern in all the previous years that Arnolfini hosted the film festival,” the open letter states. “Nor had it been a problem with the many other exhibitions and public programs that the center hosted since its opening in 1961. Important events on decolonization and Black Lives Matter, feminism and gender liberation, refugee and asylum seekers’ rights have all taken place without being seen to fall outside the venue’s ‘charitable purpose’.”

The signatories called this part of “an alarming pattern of censorship and repression within the arts sector,” and cited a slew of recent cancellations of exhibitions and events linked to pro-ceasefire sentiment or criticism of the Israeli government. This includes the cancellation in October of a conference about antisemitism and racism that was co-organized by Jewish South African artist Candice Breitz after the organizer, a German government-run agency, said it was no longer possible to “lead and moderate this debate constructively”. That same month, Palestinian artist Emily Jacir reported that a talk she’d planned to give in Berlin was shuttered.

The letter continues: “Until the Arnolfini leadership publicly commits to consistently uphold freedom of expression, with no exception for Palestine, and genuinely engages with Bristol’s arts community to rectify the harm it has caused, we must, reluctantly, refuse cooperation with the arts center and will not participate in any of its events.”

“In the face of government indifference to the harm this road will cause…we had no choice but to bring this legal action,” John Adams, the chair of Stonehenge Alliance (SA), said in a statement. “As before we hope we are successful in overturning this proposed vandalism. We hope justice will be served over the next three days.”

Meanwhile, the organization Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SSWH), which brought the legal case to the court’s attention, is pursuing a judicial review of the government’s initial approval of the project.

The £1.7 billion plan was approved earlier this year by Mark Harper, the UK’s transport security head, and is being managed by a UK government agency called National Highways. The scheme would reroute the A303 road, which runs parallel to the ancient stone circle in Wiltshire and turn it into a dual-carriage highway that critics say passes perilously close to the fragile formation. The existing A303 road would become a public walkway.

In September, UNESCO asked the UK government to “not proceed” with the controversial plan, to no avail. In response, for the first time ever, Stonehenge is now at risk of being added to the cultural body’s list of endangered World Heritage sites. It has requested to make the requested alterations to the plan by February 1, 2024.

According to the statement from the agency, the current plan “remains a threat” to the long-lasting value of Stonehenge as world heritage.

Per a statement from the Louvre on Friday, the new price will offset rising expenses related to energy and help fund free entry for visitors under 18, students, and journalists. The news comes as the country prepares for next summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, during which millions of sports fans will descend on the French capital, inflating costs citywide. The city’s transportation agency, for example, has weighed nearly doubling the price of a Metro ticket—to €4 (roughly $4.30) from €2.10—for the duration of the event, which begins on July 26.

The Louvre’s announcement also coincides with a wave of admission price hikes in New York City museums, beginning with the Metropolitan Museum of Art increasing its adult entry price from $25 to $30 in 2022. (New York residents and students in the tri-state area still qualify for pay-what-you wish admission.)

In July 2023, the Whitney Museum of American Art, which had not adjusted its ticket prices since 2016, increased ticket prices to $30 for adults and $25 for students and seniors. Citing a fiscal emergency induced by the pandemic, the Guggenheim Museum also raised its adult ticket to $30, tying the Whitney for the title of New York’s most expensive institution. 

The Louvre, meanwhile, said its new admission price is part of a major overhaul of its operations centered on managing the museum’s notorious congestion of tourists. Per the museum, this year attendance reached 30,000 visitors per day, down from pre-pandemic peaks of 45,000.

But the end is in sight: the church will officially reopen its doors to visitors one year from today, the French government has announced. According to the Associated Press, French President Emmanuel Macron—hard-hat in tow—will tour the site with the stonemasons and carpenters currently working to meet the 12-month deadline, and afterward hand off proceedings to Notre Dame’s clergy for a long-awaited service. 

The cathedral is “not the biggest cathedral nor perhaps the most beautiful,” the Rev. Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, its rector, told AP, but “it is the incarnation of a nation’s soul.”

“The expectations, the preparations for the reopening are a magnificent sign of hope in a difficult world,” he added.

The rebuilding effort at Notre-Dame has been a divisive topic within France and internationally. Shortly after the fire was contained, French collector François Pinault and his son François-Henri pledged €100 million (about $113 million) toward the effort. Hours later, collector Bernard Arnault announced that he would donate €200 million (about $226 million).

Reconstruction began in earnest in 2022, after excavations to ensure the structure could sustain the work. The French have spared no energy or expense in returning the cathedral to its former glory: the towering spire was rebuilt according to architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc’s 1859 design, with monumental beams produced from some 1,500 oaks treated and cut per medieval carpentry techniques supporting the roof. After public outcry, Macron abandoned unpopular plans to replace the 19th-century spire with a “contemporary architectural gesture.”

While the interior still bears scars from the fire, the roof and spire are set to be complete when millions of Olympic fans descend on Paris for the Summer Games opening July 26. 

The Whitney Museum of American Art announced Thursday that five curators will join Whitney curator Chrissie Iles and Los Angeles-based curator and writer Meg Onli in assembling its upcoming program: Bangkok and New York-based multidisciplinary artist Korakrit Arunanondchai; asinnajaq, an Inuk filmmaker and artist whose practice centers on modern and historical Inuit experiences; Taja Cheek, a musician known for her experimental composition; Greg de Cuir Jr, co-founder and artistic director of Kinopravda Institute in Belgrade, Serbia; and Zackary Drucker, an American multimedia artist and activist, and Whitney Biennial 2014 participant.

According to the museum, Arunanondchai, asinnajaq, de Cuir Jr, and Drucker will select filmmakers who “highlight a breadth of expression through moving images today,” while Cheek (known professionally as L’Rain) will commission a group of artists to develop a cutting-edge performance and sound series for the museum’s galleries and theater. Cheek previously led the performance programs at MoMA PS1, including Sunday Sessions, and Warm Up, its popular summer outdoor music series; she also performed at the Whitney as part of “Kevin Beasley: A view of a landscape”.

“Film, sound, and performance are such significant mediums for both of us, and we look forward to sharing with our audiences an incredibly robust film program that raises questions about the porousness of boundaries and identities, along with a thoughtful curation of live performance that offers a sensorial experience centered around embodiment,” Iles and Onli said in a statement.

Titled “Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better Than the Real Thing”, this will be 81st edition of the Whitney’s signature survey of contemporary art, which is one of the most anticipated and divisive exhibitions of its kind. The early biennials were organized by medium—with an emphasize on traditional genres like painting and drawing—but the event has evolved into a constellation of conceptually adventurous artworks that challenge even the biennial format. For the last edition, the organizers remodeled the museum’s fifth and sixth floors, removing the walls in the former, and painting the walls and floors black for the latter.

“The Whitney Biennial always champions the creativity, talent, passion, and vision of our time,” Scott Rothkopf, the Whitney’s director, said in a statement. “The strength of this edition is highlighted by the visionary curatorial talent of Meg and Chrissie and the incredible collaborators they have invited to broaden the show’s perspectives and amplify its vitality.”

Those questions are asked by one of the most visible installations currently on view in Miami: Topography of Memory, by the Brazilian artist Sallisa Rosa, which comprises 100 ceramic forms—sculpted from clay forged by friends and volunteers in Rio—that rise from the Collins Park Rotunda in Miami Beach. No two of its pieces are exactly alike, and the lot is easily mistaken for a hauntingly beautiful stalagmite grove. Celestial bodies descend from the ceiling, while soft mist drifts through the negative space, illuminated by an amber glow. Something precious and ancient brews.

Commissioned by Audemars Piguet Contemporary and guest-curated by Thiago de Paula Souza, Topography of Memory marks Rosa’s first solo exhibition in the United States and her largest ceramic project to date. Following its run in Miami, it will be presented next year at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo (March 16 to July 28), also marking the first time Audemars Piguet Contemporary’s first commission in Brazil.

From the communal forging, to the materials and their firing in a kiln built underground, each step of the process was part of long artistic tradition.

“In Topography of Memory, Rosa builds upon the notion of ‘memory programming’ introduced in her previous work,” de Paula Souza said. “Each of the sculptures is a unique expression of Rosa’s memories. The installation mirrors an underground environment, bathed in earth-toned lights, where visitors will encounter interactions between the stories engraved in the ceramic objects and the memories embedded in each grain of soil within the installation.”

It will be on view in tandem with Art Basel Miami Beach, which buzzes nearby as a sort of counter-experience. The intimate Topography of Memory rewards slow looking; the star-studded bazaar is a perpetual machine of motion and money. At any art fair—especially one of such magnitude—attention spans generally run shorter. Rosa’s work is serene and solemn, like a ritual site; it isn’t likely to be lost in the crowd. 

In addition to her installation, she has new ceramics and watercolors in the Kabinett section of the fair, in a booth hosted by the Brazilian gallery A Gentil Carioca.

Born in Goiânia and based in Rio de Janeiro, Rosa makes sculptures, photographs, and videos informed, in part, by the experience of life as an Indigenous person in urban environments. Tethered to an ancestry that actively faces erasure, she seems to be thinking relentlessly on what was lost, what remains, and what could be, which is yet undetermined. A startling ascendant self-taught artist, she had her first solo exhibition at Museu de Arte Moderna in Rio de Janeiro in 2021 and has also participated in group shows at Théâtre de L’Usine, Geneva, the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and SNAP, Shanghai, and São Paulo’s Paço das Artes.

Her work has touched on surveillance, invisibility, conservatism, fascism, but is always underpinned by the fragility of culture. Land, language, artistic traditions—these are what sustains the self, what is worth bequeathing, and what is easily diluted.

“The earth is the place of memory,” Rosa said of the Miami piece. “While shaping the clay, I encoded memories into each piece, turning them into extracorporeal memories. People can move through the work, and my intention is that this movement will activate collective memory.”