The Performance of International Diplomacy at Kigali Memorial Centre, Rwanda

Giblin, John

doi:10.22599/jachs.17

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Performance requires social awareness and attentiveness by diplomats in which their consciousness and sense of self are intrinsically connected (Davidson et al 2017). Moreover, within state claim-making, the performing diplomatic body, through its presence in the here and now, can be used symbolically in order to signify importance, reputation, order, beliefs and values (Giblin 2017). The diplomatic body can thus be 'read' or perceived in particular ways in state claim-making.…”

Section: Diplomatic Performance and Emotional Geopoliticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance, Emotions, and Diplomacy in the United Nations Assemblage in New York

Jones

Clark

2019

Annals of the American Association of Geographers

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Emotions are decisive to geographies of performance, yet our understanding of their role in critical geopolitics is non-existent. This paper addresses this deficit. We argue performances link statecraft with statehood to create geopolitical power in what we term 'spaces of possibility'. Examination of these spaceswhere state claim-making materialises through diplomatic performance and emotionsis we argue crucial, for representing the state is far more than the simple articulation of claim-making discourses. Instead, it is an active 'lived experience' for diplomats that exposes the challenges and vulnerabilities of personal performance through everyday political geographies. Consequently, here we set out a new research agenda for an emotional geopolitics that directly addresses the pivotal role of performance in state claim-making. Our focus for this is the 'topography of action' of the United Nations (UN) in New York. Deploying assemblage thinking and using extensive primary interview data from 11 current and former UN Ambassadors, we illustrate the centrality of material, visceral and sensual embodiments as they emerge out of and through diplomatic claim-making in different performative contexts. In doing so, we advance geographic debates by demonstrating how emotions are inseparable facets of diplomatic life.

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Section: Diplomatic Performance and Emotional Geopoliticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance, Emotions, and Diplomacy in the United Nations Assemblage in New York

Jones

Clark

2019

Annals of the American Association of Geographers

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“…The official histories promulgated at these sites are sometimes resisted, including by survivors (Ibreck, 2010), and their use of human remains has also been contested (Korman, 2015). But they maintain a powerful position in Rwanda, not least in international terms: they host international diplomats, dignitaries, and tourists (Giblin, 2017), and some were developed with notable international input (Ibreck, 2013).…”

Section: Contextualizing Heritage Development In Rwandamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…KGM, the flagship memorial, is significantly busier than the other memorials, including Nyamata and Ntarama. In 2012, KGM hosted approximately 40,000 international visitors, while guest bookings at other sites recorded only a few international visitors per week (Gayongayire and Nyiracumi, 2014; Giblin, 2017: 54). These numbers do not include Rwandan visitors.…”

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confidence: 99%

Imagining genocide heritage: Material modes of development and preservation in Rwanda

Bolin

2019

Journal of Material Culture

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The Rwandan government has undertaken ambitious development projects resulting in major changes to the country’s built environment, including the materiality of genocide heritage. This article focuses on the genocide memorials of Nyamata and Ntarama, arguing that these sites demonstrate how globally-circulating discourses of development and preservation are vernacularized, instantiated, and transformed in their encounter with the national imaginary. The forces that affect the material choices of heritage management here include Rwanda’s state-led imperative toward a particular physical ideal of development, UNESCO World Heritage-driven concepts of authenticity, and the Rwandan government’s need for evidence of genocide. Differently affecting each site, these factors result in multiple modes of material intervention. The article argues that the physical form of heritage sites is shaped by engagements between global and local discourses and ideals of heritage and development; these engagements direct the processes of preservation and intervention that ultimately determine how heritage is materialized.

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“…In government-driven memorialization, place and materiality is put to work to keep the memory of genocide alive in what Meierhenrich 2011, 292) has called a 'strategy of suffering' pursued by the RPF towards the international community. For instance, the Kigali Genocide Memorial plays a pivotal role in Rwandan diplomatic relations as a site routinely visited by prominent internationals (Giblin 2017). Moreover, the display of human remains in several key memorials has been interpreted as a macabre way of remembering the past which 'facilitates a forgetting of the present'a present of increased authoritarianism and RPF dominance (Meierhenrich 2011, 289).…”

Section: The Monumentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remembering genocide in the diaspora: Place and materiality in the commemoration of atrocities in Rwanda and Sri Lanka

Orjuela

2019

International Journal of Heritage Studies

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The pain of war and genocide is often very physical and place-based. At the same time, displacement compels many of those who lost their loved ones to remember them and their homeland's violent past from afar. This article explores the territoriality and materiality of diaspora remembrance by looking at diaspora initiatives to remember victims of genocide and war in Rwanda and Sri Lanka. In Brussels, a memory conflict between supporters and critics of the Rwandan government is played out around a small monument. In rural United Kingdom, an envisioned memorial park to Tamils martyred in the struggle for independence illustrates how memorial spaces in the diaspora challenge official homeland state narratives of the past and carry meaning as a symbolic land for Tamils. Initiatives to plant trees, name streets and throw flowers on a river provide additional examples of how diaspora actors strive to anchor memory of atrocities physically and territorially. The article suggests that materiality and spatiality of memorialization takes on different meanings in a diasporic context, as initially 'meaningless' places are turned into selfreferential sites for remembrance, and the establishment of more permanent memorial structures can form part of home-making processes in the country of settlement.

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The Performance of International Diplomacy at Kigali Memorial Centre, Rwanda

Cited by 10 publications

References 21 publications

Performance, Emotions, and Diplomacy in the United Nations Assemblage in New York

Performance, Emotions, and Diplomacy in the United Nations Assemblage in New York

Imagining genocide heritage: Material modes of development and preservation in Rwanda

Remembering genocide in the diaspora: Place and materiality in the commemoration of atrocities in Rwanda and Sri Lanka

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