Events

Mémoire, Reconstruction et Espace Publique / Memory, Reconstruction and Public Space

International Colloquium – November 2014

The International Symposium on Memory, Reconstruction and Public Space, 6 – 7 November 2014, was hosted by the Information Communication Department of Tourcoing University Institute of Technology (Université de Lille 3 – Charles de Gaulle) in collaboration with the International Consortium for the Study of Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Reconciliation (ICSPCRR) and with the support of the University of Nottingham, School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies. The colloquium was dedicated to the study of the construction of the collective memory of conflicts, traces, images and narratives that marked the last century’s memories – public and private – but also raising the question of how NTIC – New Technologies of Information and Communication – enable the revisiting of notions of memory, reconstruction and archive.

Round table at Maison de L’Amérique Latine

Paris, November 2014

Les Relations Franco-Britanniques… with a Transatlantic Difference

Following the invitation from her Excellency María del Carmen Squeff, Ambassador of the Argentine Republic to France, to debate in Paris with the newly-appointed Argentine Minister for the Malvinas, South Georgia, the Sandwich Islands and the Antarctic, Daniel Filmus, in November 2014, Professor Bernard McGuirk has continued his diplomatic role in the European Union dimension of the politics and cultural relations of Anglo-Argentine relations. As principal investigator of the 3-year EU-funded MEMOSUR project A Lesson for Europe: Memory, Trauma and Reconciliation in Chile and Argentina, he has conducted a workshop in Buenos Aires for the trainee diplomats of the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs in March, returned to the Paris Embassy for a further round table in April, and has addressed the South Atlantic Council (SAC), on Constructing and Deconstructing Diplomatic Bridges, at the House of Lords in Westminster, under the chairmanship of Lord O’Neill, in May 2015. The developing EU Staff Mobility programme in Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Reconciliation will continue to draw on the expertise in Trans-Oceanic Cultural Relations of CLAS colleagues, Drs Adam Sharman, Gareth Stockey, Alexandra Campos, Rui Miranda and Professor Jeremy Lawrance in the period to 2017.

Round table “Malouines, le colonialisme et le néo-colonialismsme dans le XXIe siècle: À nous de construire des ponts”, with sénateur Sergio Coronado, Monsieur l’Ambassadeur Daniel Filmus, Prof. Paz Andrés Saenz de Santa María and Professor Bernard McGuirk

South Atlantic Council of the House of Lords

London, May 2015

“Constructing and Deconstructing Diplomatic Bridges: Anglo-Argentine Relations”, a presentation given at Millbank House, in May 2015, by Professor Bernard McGuirk, pictured below with Richard Gott of The Guardian, and Alaine Low, Founding Director of the South Atlantic Council.

5 November 2015 British veterans of the 1982 conflict meet with Argentine ex-combatant

British veterans of the 1982 conflict met with Argentine ex-combatant Edgardo Esteban at the Embassy of Argentina in London. They recalled their experiences and expressed the need for dialogue and understanding between the two nations and the two peoples.

In a groundbreaking event, the film Iluminados por el fuego/Blessed by fire (directed by Tristán Bauer, 2005; based on Edgardo Esteban’s book) was screened at the Embassy of Argentina to a group of British veterans, along with film makers, students and members of the public from both communities.

Following the film, a panel of academics from Cambridge University and the University of London shared their thoughts. The panel was chaired by Professor Bernard McGuirk, head of Nottingham University’s International Consortium for the Study of Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Reconciliation. Members of the large audience also participated, and expressed how moved they were to witness this moment of union, fraternity and reconciliation. “Former enemies, now brothers in arms” the British veterans observed, thanking the Embassy of Argentina for offering “A unique opportunity to meet other veterans, helping to heal the wounds of the past. A great number of us have suffered as a result of the conflict, many sadly taking their own lives”.

Ex combatants Dougie Brimson, Jeremy McTeague, Ambassador Alicia Castro, Edgardo Esteban, Stuart Russell, Dave Charlie Brown and Geoff Johnston with Professor Bernard McGuirk, UK leader of the EU IRSES MEMOSUR project Lessons in Democracy for Europe

“If those soldiers who faced each other on the battlefield are today able to shake hands, it is inconceivable that politicians are incapable of engaging in dialogue”, Ambassador Castro observed. “Argentina is ready for dialogue. The British Government should heed the calls of the entire international community and 41 United Nations resolutions and come to the negotiating table to find a peaceful, diplomatic and permanent solution to the sovereignty dispute”.

Memory and Trauma: Europe and Latin America

London, November 2015

Ambassador Alicia Castro and Minister Daniel Filmus welcome to the Argentine Embassy in London Ambassadors from seven Latin American republics for the launch of Presidential Voices of Latin America, CCCP Press, Nottingham, part of the Memory and Trauma: Europe and Latin America, 3-day international colloquium of the EU-funded Marie Curie MEMOSUR project A Lesson for Europe: Memory, Trauma and Reconciliation in Chile and Argentina. Organized under the auspices of Dr Gareth Stockey, newly appointed director of the International Consortium for the Study of Post-Conflict Societies. The MEMOSUR project was presented to the Ambassadors by the principal investigators, Professor Bernard McGuirk, University of Nottingham, and Professor Patrizia Violi, University of Bologna, with a view to extending the participation to other democracies in the region.

Link to conference programme:  Trauma and Memory colloquium 3-6 Nov 2015.