Spontaneous Memorials: Contemporary perspectives on their sociocultural, psychological and organisational impact
International Conference, Manchester, 12-13 June 2025
In person and Online
Abstracts and Speaker Biographies [PDF] (Updated 31st March 2025)
Provisional Conference Programme (Updated 31st March 2025)
Thursday 12th June 2025
| 09.00 | Registration and coffee | |
| 09.30 | Welcome and Introduction | |
| 09.45 | Plenary Panel (participants tba) | |
| 10.30 | Break | |
| 10.50 | Social, Political and Institutional Narratives of Spontaneous Memorials Chair: tba Cristian Monforte Rubia, Spontaneous memorials and identity conflicts: the impact of identity tensions on the expression of popular emotion after the 2017 Barcelona attacks Amy Batley, The potential of urban community narratives in spontaneous memorials after terrorism [ONLINE] Sakshi Awasthi, From Spontaneous Memorials to Collective Memory: Curatorial, Social and Psychological Impacts of the Smritivan Earthquake Memorial in Kutch, Bhuj, Gujarat, India. | Case Study: Spontaneous Memorialisation in the Aftermath of the Grenfell Tower Fire Chair: tba Megan McCormick and Dimitra Ntzani, Tracing the Rhizomes of Trauma: Psychogeographies of protest and grief in Grenfell Tower Commemoration Cathy Long and Lisa Nash, Memorialising Grenfell; Listening to the Silence, Capturing the Anger Matt Hogan, Memorials In The Moment: Lessons from Grenfell for Emergency Management |
| 12.20 | Lunch Installation: Tanja Hollander, Mourning Flowers / Flower Sleeve | |
| 13.30 | Psychological Impact of Spontaneous Memorials Chair: tba Louisa Blight, “Families First”: The Impact of Spontaneous Memorials in the Aftermath of the 2021 Plymouth Shootings [ONLINE] Maëlle Bazin, Psychological impact of spontaneous memorials: the researcher’s emotional commitment and distancing strategies [ONLINE] Jen Kavanagh and Kostas Arvanitis, The impact of collecting spontaneous memorials on the mental wellbeing of the record-keeping workforce | Activism, Protest and Creativity in Spontaneous Memorialisation Chair: tba Stepan Stepanenko and Alina Yarova, Grief, Protest, and Power: Exploring Spontaneous and Organised Memorials in the Context of War and Hostage Crises Sayan Parial, “Night is Ours”: A Bricoleur of Affect, Activism, and Aesthetics Binar Asri Lestari and Syifa Adiba, Justice in the Shadows: Aksi Kamisan as Indonesia’s Resilience Memorial Katharina Karcher, Fighting for spaces of memory, fighting for change –spontaneous memorials in the aftermath of the Hanau shootings in 2020 |
| 15.05 | Break | |
| 15.30 | Spontaneous Memorialisation and/in Digital Media Chair: tba Nilsu Erkul, Remembrance Beyond Barriers: Facebook Groups as Spontaneous Memorials for Varosha’s Displaced Communities Shanshan Wu, Vlogging as Spontaneous Memorial: Transcultural Narratives of Chinese Students in the UK During COVID-19 Vicki Leibowitz and Cristina Garduño Freeman, Bus stops and Bedrooms: Digital Practices of Spontaneous Memorialisation in War-torn Ukraine | The Sound and Music of Spontaneous Memorialisation Chair: tba Anne Whitehead, Sounding the Angel: Recording the Grassroots Memorial at the Angel of the North Katelyn Hearfield, “The Songs That We Sing”: Collective Processing and Affective Labor after the Manchester Arena Bombing Heather Sparling, Cartographies of Vicarious and Disenfranchised Grief: Intangibly Memorializing the 2020 Nova Scotia Mass Shooting in Song |
| 17.00 | End of Presentations | |
| 17.15 | Drinks Reception | |
| 18.00 | Live Performance: Kevin Malone and Adam Swayne, Fence, photograph, pandemic, piano: The Makeshift Music of Sudden Memorials. Introduction and Performance (Adam Swayne appears with support from The Ida Carroll Trust) | |
| 19.00 | End of Day 1 | |
Friday 13th June 2025
| 08.30 | Registration and coffee |
| 09.00 | Welcome |
| 09.10 | Collecting, Documenting, and Managing Spontaneous Memorials Chair: tba Stephanie Gibson and Shannon Wellington, Beyond the First Wave: Understanding the Ebb and Flow of Trauma Collections [ONLINE] Matthew Jago and Karen Hampton, Hillcrest Primary School Tragedy [ONLINE] Gretchen Abuso, Spontaneous Reminders of Disaster: The Case of Typhoon Washi in the Philippines [ONLINE] |
| 10.40 | Break |
| 11.00 | Theoretical Frameworks and Practical Guidance in Managing Spontaneous Memorials Chair: tba Margaret Holloway, Theorising Spontaneous Memorials: towards a framework Hannah Jones, Mike Rogers and David Morris, Rapid Response Collecting: developing practical guidance for the archives sector Kostas Arvanitis, Robert Simpson and Lesley Cheung, PLAN – CARE – HEAL: A conceptual and operational framework for collecting and managing spontaneous memorials |
| 12.30 | Lunch Installation: Samuel Yves, Fragments of Paris: Spontaneous Tributes after November 13 |
| 13.45 | The Long-Term Life of Spontaneous Memorials Chair: tba Nicole Sully, Flowers on Elm: Spontaneous memorials following the assassination of John F. Kennedy [ONLINE] Jan Seidler Ramirez, Prolonging Impermanence and Pushback to Permanence: Two Cases at the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum Memorial Melissa Barthelemy, We Remember Them: The Use of Artifacts from the May 23, 2014 Isla Vista Memorial Archive at the University of California, Santa Barbara [ONLINE] |
| 15.15 | Break |
| 15.45 | Keynote: Pam Schwartz, To What End? We remember but it’s not never again |
| 14.45 | Closing |
| 17.00 | End of Conference |
Registration
There is no registration fee. Lunch and refreshments will be provided for the in-person attendees.
Due to limited funding, we are unable to offer in-person attendance to those not directly involved in the conference (such as speakers, programme panel members, or partner organisations). Of course, people can join the conference presentations online (registration for non-speakers will open in April 2025).
Information about how to register for remote access to the conference presentations will be available in April 2025.
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Call for Papers
We are pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the international conference on Spontaneous Memorials, which is organised by the Institute for Cultural Practices, University of Manchester, on 12-13 June 2025 (in person and online). The conference aims to explore sociocultural, psychological, curatorial, digital and research methodology dimensions of spontaneous memorials. In particular, it examines the impact that spontaneous memorials have on individuals, communities, organisations and societies. The conference is funded by the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
Spontaneous or grassroots memorials (also termed temporary/makeshift memorials/shrines) appear often in the aftermath of tragic events such as disasters, accidents, terrorist attacks and the death of prominent people. They frequently consist of large numbers of flowers, candles, written notes, soft toys, arts and crafts, clothes and other objects. Such memorialisation has also expanded on social and digital media in ways that blend the physical with the virtual.
Spontaneous memorials have been the subject of diverse academic, policy and practice investigations. This includes disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies on spontaneous memorials as: spatial, material and performative expressions of public grief and memorialisation; rituals of gift-giving; social and political action; counter-memory; protest and social justice; and forms of temporary public art. Relevant work includes, also, critical reflections on collecting, documenting and curating spontaneous memorials. Much of this scholarship is included in two key edited volumes, Spontaneous Shrines and the Public Memorialization of Death (edited by Jack Santino, 2006) and Grassroots Memorials. The Politics of Memorializing Traumatic Death (edited by Peter Jan Margry and Cristina Sánchez-Carretero, 2011), as well as more recent monographs, book chapters, journal articles, reports and practical guides.
This conference builds on this body of research and practice and invites contributions from scholars, practitioners, emergency planners and responders and policymakers to ongoing and emerging issues and debates on sociocultural, psychological and organisational impact of spontaneous memorials. We, also, welcome contributions that examine one or more case studies, reflect on lessons learnt and propose recommendations for organisations, communities and individuals. Submissions that explore one or more of the following themes are particularly (but not exclusively) welcome:
- The Creation and Sociocultural Impact of Spontaneous Memorials
Who participates (or not) and why in physical/digital spontaneous memorialisation? How do people interact with spontaneous memorials? What can the memorials’ materiality, format and content tell us about participants’ motivations and intentions? Who/what are spontaneous memorials for? What voices are included, marginalised or excluded in spontaneous memorials? How do they intersect with race, gender, class, identity and memory politics? How do spontaneous memorials shape, reflect, communicate or contest broader social, political, and cultural narratives? What is the relationship between spontaneous memorials and official memorials? We invite papers that explore the contribution of spontaneous memorials to the public discourse around their event, both in the short and the longer term. - Spontaneous Memorialisation and/in Digital and Social Media
Spontaneous memorialisation takes place also on digital and social media platforms such as X, Facebook, and Instagram. How does digital spontaneous memorialisation contribute to collective grief and post-event individual and societal recovery? What, if any, may be the harms related to online forms of spontaneous memorialisation? What is the relationship between physical and digital spontaneous memorials? What is the role of media more broadly in the formation of spontaneous memorials? We invite papers that explore the role of media and digital technologies, from social media posts and hashtags to virtual candle lighting, in shaping forms and practices of spontaneous memorialisation. - The Psychological Impact of Spontaneous Memorials on Individuals, Communities, and Society
What is the psychological impact of spontaneous memorials on different groups of people, including bereaved families, survivors and the broader community? Is there a “healing” or “therapeutic” aspect of spontaneous memorials and how can it be articulated and evidenced? How can organisations that have collected spontaneous memorials mitigate the risk of secondary and vicarious trauma for cultural professionals, volunteers and members of the public? We welcome papers from different disciplinary and interdisciplinary fields, including psychology, sociology, museology, disaster studies and memory studies. We, also, encourage contributions on lived experience by people that have been affected by the associated events. - Policy and Practice in Collecting, Documenting, and Curating Spontaneous Memorials
What roles do cultural organisations play in collecting, preserving, documenting and curating spontaneous memorials? How do archives, museums and other memory institutions address and respond to issues and challenges that emerge when deciding (not) to collect physical/digital spontaneous memorials? What is the value, role and use of such collections over time? How do organisations engage with key stakeholders, including bereaved families, survivors and emergency services? We invite presentations that engage with the conceptual, practical and ethical questions surrounding this area of cultural policy and practice, as well as case studies that illustrate innovative approaches in this field. - Research Methodologies of Spontaneous Memorials
Spontaneous memorials pose considerable challenges for researchers given, among others, their often unpredictable and temporary nature. What ethical, methodological and practical challenges does the study of physical/digital spontaneous memorials present? How can self-care be embedded in the research design? We encourage submissions that discuss innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to research design, fieldwork and data analysis and reporting.
Submission Guidelines: We invite proposals of 300–500 words for 20-minute presentations (in person or online). Please complete the proposal template and email it to spontaneousmemorialsconference@gmail.com
Deadline for Proposals: Monday 25th November 2024
Details about publication plans of conference papers will be announced in due course.
Conference Organisers
Kostas Arvanitis, University of Manchester, UK
Lesley Cheung, University of Manchester, UK
Robert Simpson, University of Manchester, UK
Programme panel
Louisa Blight, National Museum of the Royal Navy, UK
Peter Jan Margry, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Akira Matsuda, University of Tokyo, Japan
Ana Milosevic, University of Leuven, Belgium
Jan Ramirez, National September 11 Memorial & Museum, USA
Gérôme Truc, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France
Shona Whitton, IFRC Reference Centre for Psychosocial Support, Denmark
Keynote Presentation
Pamela Schwartz, Thinc Design, USA (previously, Chief Curator of the Orange County Regional History Center in Orlando, Florida)
Important Dates
- Deadline for submission of proposals: 25th November 2024 (The deadline has now passed. We can’t accept any more proposals)
- Notification of acceptance of proposals: By 19th December 2024
- Conference dates: 12-13 June 2025
Conference Venue
University of Manchester and Online
Contact
Conference email address: spontaneousmemorialsconference@gmail.com
