2023

Stefan Sonvilla-Weiss
SPACES OF COMMEMORATION AND COMMUNICATION
Publisher: transcript/Columbia University Press
ISBN: 978-3-8376-6733-2
https://www.transcript-publishing.com/978-3-8376-6733-2/spaces-of-commemoration-and-communication/
https://cup.columbia.edu/book/spaces-of-commemoration-and-communication/9783837667332

In times of resurgence of ultra-nationalistic and xenophobic tendencies across Europe, education and awareness-raising for all age groups about the history of the Holocaust are paramount for agency and civil engagement. Stefan Sonvilla-Weiss examines commemorative culture and its transformation towards interactive and participatory experiences through a novel form of visitor engagement at the Mauthausen Memorial Visiting Center. This unique space from an arts-based and media research project builds on human-centered design and individual and collective experiences of contributing to a living memory culture.

This book points to the current need for a participatory approach in a site devoted to commemoration, documentation, and education and the vital role of dialogue, discussion, and discourse.
Prof. Liat Steir-Livny, Sapir Academic College and The Open University, Israel, author of “Remaking Holocaust Memory: Documentary Cinema by Third GenerationSurvivors in Israel”

Stefan Sonvilla-Weiss makes a distinctive contribution to contemporary design practice for memorials and museums, deftly drawing together a range of recent insights from user experience design, environmental psychology, cognitive science, and theories of emotion. The book will interest designers, curators, and scholars seeking to explore new ways of connecting the past with the present, personal with collective memory, and digital archives with embodied spatial experiences.
Prof. Quentin Stevens, RMIT University Melbourne, co-author of “Memorials as Spaces of Engagement"