The Consequences of Digitalising Collective Memory in China
February 19, 2026 | 4pm - 6 pm | Poststraße 26, 53111 Bonn
We are pleased to welcome Vivien Markert, Frederik Schmitzand Dr. Maximilian Mayer to present and discuss their book “The Digitalisation of Memory Practices in China: Contesting the Curating State.”
Building on their pioneering volume, this session delves into how rapidly evolving digital technologies are reshaping the politics of memory in contemporary China. Building on the book’s concept of the “curating state,” the discussion examines how digitalisation empowers non-state actors to preserve alternative narratives and challenge official histories while simultaneously equipping the Party-state with new tools to reinforce and control memory discourses. The discussion reflects on this paradoxical terrain and examines technology, power, and memory curation in China’s evolving sociotechnical landscape, where the past is reimagined, contested and censored.
As a space for experimentation and dialogue, the series seeks to critically explore multiple pasts and presents to envision alternative futures. It aims to bring scholars and practitioners from across the globe together to engage, interact and address the current global multi-faceted crisis involving economic, ecological, social and cultural challenges and negotiations of heritage and museums as powerfully charged, conflictual, and creative spaces.
No reservation needed.
You can join the event via ZOOM:
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The organization is not affiliated with CASSIS, but rather with the Global Heritage Lab (GHL) and the transdisciplinary research areas (TRA). The event will be conducted in English.