Institute of Present Pasts

Institute of Present Pasts

The Institute of Present Pasts (IPP), which was established by Mayoral Decree, is a research, ideas and experiences laboratory on social processes where images of the past and the polices that manage them are shaped, represented and conveyed.

Having a laboratory of ideas and experiences is a formula used by many institutions for the purposes of proposing appropriate and efficient presentation contents and formats and guaranteeing ongoing assessments of programmes, in this case, at the Commissioner’s Office and facilities linked to it.

That is why the IPP’s disciplinary scope is cross-cutting, has no chronological limits and its goal is to combine studies, research, training and analyses of models; one of the main aims is to observe national and international production, reflect on it and work to create new cultural initiatives and above all new suitable and efficient formats for the programmes of the Commissioner’s Office for Memory Programmes and its tools. As a result, the Institute is designed to propose and encourage research projects, programme proposals, courses, seminars, conferences and debates, while generating a permanent forum for dialogue and exchange.

It is with this goal that the meaning and mandate of the Institute of Present Pasts are to manage information from experiences and ideas that enable knowledge of changes and cultural memorial macro-trends, so dynamics can be created to promote research, innovation and exchanges among the groups and collectives concerned, whether veterans and newcomers, and to help to transform their projects and results into an effective programme.

The Institute of Present Pasts is directly answerable to the Commissioner for Memory Programmes, although it covers and links all the other facilities that comprise the tools of the Commissioner’s Office through the Department of History and Memory (ICUB). The research and training programme at the Commissioner’s Office, where appropriate, will be presented under the auspices of the IPP, thereby constituting its public expression in the field of research, training and debate.

Functions

  • Organising seminars, courses, conferences and debates. The Institute of Present Pasts (IPP) will be creating, where necessary, work groups aimed at study, debate and research. The Chair, on the initiative of the IPP’s members, will appoint the members of the groups.
  • Analysing information from experiences and ideas that enable knowledge of the changes and cultural memorial macro-trends for the purposes of generating dynamics that promote research, innovation and exchanges with the groups and collectives concerned, whether veterans or newcomers.
  • Offering advice on the programme of the Commissioner’s Office for Memory Programmes.
  • Acting as a research, ideas and experiences laboratory for assessing and selecting international intellectual memorial production, analysing the programmes of memorial facilities, institutions and associations in their activities, and establishing international relations deemed appropriate in this sphere.
  • The Institute of Present Pasts is set up as a collegiate body with consultative and advisory functions and subject to the legal system for collegiate bodies established under Act 30/1992, on the Legal System for Public Authorities and Common Administrative Procedures and Act 26/2010, of 3 August, on the Legal System and Procedures for Catalonia’s public authorities and relevant regulations.

Members of the Institute of Present Pasts

Chair: Ricard Vinyes Ribas

Secretary: Núria Burguillos Medina

Director: Carles Vicente Guitart

New Formats Director​: Montserrat Iniesta González

Research Director: Anna Molina Castellà

Members

Dr Joaquim Albareda

Dr Josefina Birulés Bertran

Dr Montserrat Carbonell Estellés

Dr Francisco Ferrándiz Martín

Dr Kathrin Golda-Pongratz

Dr Jordi Guixé Coromines

Dr Itziar González Virós

Dr Marta Marín Dòmine

Dr Joaquim Nadal Farreras

Lines of study, research and debate

  • The commemorative phenomenon and public art
  • Colonial Barcelona
  • Evocation of ruins: an analysis of the model of impunity and its consequences through legislation, public art and mental health
  • Barcelona, a topography of destruction
  • Political corruption in Spain in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries
  • Memory, monument and community
  • Six-monthly compilation of international memorial activities

Reports

Memorable. Report on memory and commemoration policies (September-December 2018)

31/12/2018 | Report num 6: September-December 2018 | 827.42K

Memorable. Report on memory and commemoration policies (May-August 2018)

31/08/2018 | Report num 5: May-August 2018 | 873.84K

Memorable. Report on memory and commemoration policies (January-April 2018)

30/04/2018 | Report num 4: January-April 2018 | 1.00M

Memorable. Report on memory and commemoration policies (September-December 2017)

31/12/2017 | Report num 3: September-December 2017 | 924.61K

Memorable. Report on memory and commemoration policies (May-August 2017)

31/08/2017 | Report num 2: May-August 2017 | 1.08M

Memorable. Report on memory and commemoration policies (January-April 2017)

30/04/2017 | Report num 1: January-April 2017 | 1.14M

Seminars, courses and conferences

Colonial Barcelona

Colonial Barcelona

Dates: Since 08/03/2016 Venue: Changing

Colonial Barcelona is a space for dialogue on the transmission of memories of colonial narratives in all their aspects, in particular, their symbolic expression in the public space and how a democratic society handles such expressions. This area of reflection is organised and promoted by the Institute of Present Pasts.

Further information
City, spaces and architecture of memory

City, spaces and architecture of memory

Dates: 16/02/2017 - 09/03/2017 Venue: El Born CCM

City, spaces and architecture of memory is a course on the city and the various layers of its memory. Run by Kathrin Golda-Pongratz, it offers an opportunity to see the city from a different angle, to encourage greater involvement in present memories in urban spaces.

Further information
Narratives of memories on state violence

Narratives of memories on state violence

Dates: 22/02/2017 - 22/02/2017 Venue: El Born CCM

Debate on multi-disciplinary approaches and perspectives on the phenomenon of building memories and speaking of victimisers, in order to delve deeply into the narratives, logic and morals that sustain them.

Further information
Archives, Human Rights and Transparency

Archives, Human Rights and Transparency

Dates: 27/02/2017 - 27/02/2017 Venue: El Born CCM

The purpose of the Archives, Human Rights and Transparency Conference is to stimulate a joint reflection on three concepts which are often read in an exclusive way by the general public.

Further information
The topicality of the past

The topicality of the past

Dates: 03/10/2017 - 24/10/2017 Venue: El Born CCM

Introductory course for memory studies coordinated by Maria Chiara Bianchini and aimed at anyone interested in researching the mechanisms and trends of current memorial-safeguarding cultures from an interdisciplinary and transnational approach.

Further information
Winnipeg Memorial

Winnipeg Memorial

Dates: Since 13/11/2017 Venue: El Born CCM

The Winnipeg Memorial is the programme promoted by the Institute of Present Pasts which organises and promotes activities that connect the Americas and Europe. The main activity is the agreement signed between the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) and the Commissioner for Memory Programmes to foster the exchange of knowledge, research and memorial experiences and their dissemination in Europe and the Americas.

Further information

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