#culturalmemory — Public Fediverse posts on home.social

Wim Van Mierlo @[email protected] · 2026-08-13 · 15:40 UTC

In the category rabbit-holes-I-definitely-won't-go-down-in: map pins as cartoskeuomorphs.

https://makingmaps.substack.com/p/map-pins-as-cartoskeuomorphs

This one a propos of some seminars on place, space, memory and memoir that I'm preparing for one of our Liberal Arts modules. If anyone has any relevant ideas, suggestions or resources in this rather wild topic, do let me know.

#space #place #culturalmemory #memoir #humanities

WPS News @[email protected] · 2026-07-03 · 10:05 UTC

Cliff Potts: Time in the Frequency of a Nation

By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News

Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines — July 4, 2026 —

Introduction

Two hundred and fifty years ago, a small group of men signed a document declaring independence from empire. Today, from Baybay City in the Philippines, I write as one American citizen who has lived through a slice of what that declaration became.

This is not the story of a public figure. It is the story of a participant. A boy shaped by California lift, a teenager formed in Chicago bleachers, a man who watched systems rise, harden, and strain.

History is not only written in marble halls. It is carried in memory.

California Lift

I was born into early-1960s California. You did not need to hear the word “Gemini” to feel the rockets. Aerospace optimism was atmospheric. Highways grew. Suburbs spread. The future felt engineered.

Songs on AM radio carried that lift. “Up, Up and Away” floated everywhere in 1967, just as we returned from Peru. It was sunlight set to melody. It was motion upward, literal and cultural.

“California Dreamin’” had already framed longing and geography in song. Even before the counterculture defined itself, there was a sense that the West Coast was a place where something was beginning.

In 1966, we left. In 1967, we landed in Chicago. The contrast was immediate. California was horizon and expansion. Chicago was density, machine politics, industry, and winter. The country revealed its internal weather systems.

Prosser and the Rowdies

I attended Prosser Vocational High School on Chicago’s Northwest Side. When I arrived, it was an all-boys school. No cheer squad. Barely a football team. So we built our own energy in the bleachers. We became the Prosser Rowdies.

It was not rebellion for its own sake. It was tribe.

Across the street sat Nicky’s. During study hall, I sometimes signed myself in as office help and crossed over for donuts and coffee. The jukebox became a timestamp.

“Rock On.”
“Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me).”
“Play That Funky Music.”
And above all, “Long Tall Glasses (I Can Dance).”

That Leo Sayer track seemed to play every time I walked in during 1974. To this day, when it comes on, I bounce in my chair. I could never dance well. I could fake a twist. I once nearly injured someone attempting the bump. But that bass line still moves me.

High school was not defined by grades. It was defined by structure and belonging. I understood what I was supposed to do, even when I did not execute perfectly. College later became the place where I proved to myself that I could perform within academic systems.

I loved school because it made sense.

The Soundtrack of Becoming

The late 1960s and 1970s unfolded in music.

“Kicks” warned.
“White Rabbit” experimented.
“Aquarius” announced an age.
“American Pie” autopsied a decade.

“Color My World” meant prom lights and awkward slow dances. “Ballroom Blitz” meant raw energy without ideology. “Barracuda” meant defiance.

And for my tribe in the 1970s, “Dust in the Wind” became a quiet anthem. Even as we gathered to study the Book of Revelation, even as we spoke of prophecy and permanence, we felt the fragility. All we are is dust in the wind. It was not nihilism. It was recognition.

Time moved.

“Fly Like an Eagle” named it. Time keeps on slipping into the future.
“In the Air Tonight” captured the tension that followed. Something unresolved. Something suspended.

Music was not my obsession. It was my barometer. It marked the shifts in atmosphere.

Faith, Work, and Institutions

I moved through religious movements, countercultural remnants, and corporate structures. I saw idealism institutionalize. I saw institutions calcify. I saw protest give way to management. I saw corporate systems consume youth and energy.

The lesson was not despair. It was clarity.

Systems require vigilance. Culture requires renewal. No generation escapes responsibility for maintenance.

From Chicago to other states and eventually to the Philippines, I carried that awareness. Distance sharpens contrast. Watching the United States from Southeast Asia is different than watching it from within.

America at 250

In 1976, the bicentennial arrived. My family largely ignored the fireworks. Today, in 2026, the 250th anniversary arrives under strain.

The United States is older now. Heavier. Divided. Questioning itself again.

The language of liberty remains. The practice of it is contested.

From here, it feels like something is still in the air tonight — unresolved, suspended, waiting for a release that has not yet come.

I do not write this as condemnation or nostalgia. I write it as record.

I was there for California lift.
I was there for Chicago grit.
I was there for bleacher chants and jukebox quarters.
I was there for faith and doubt.
I was there for time slipping.

At 250 years old, the United States is still asking fundamental questions about power, responsibility, and freedom. I am one ordinary citizen who lived through a fraction of its arc.

I did not shape history in dramatic ways. I participated in it quietly. I studied. I worked. I believed. I questioned. I observed.

That is enough to archive.

For more social commentary, please see Occupy 2.5 at https://Occupy25.com

This essay will be archived as part of the ongoing WPS News Monthly Brief Series available through Amazon.

#250thAnniversary #AmericanHistory #autobiography #California #Chicago #CliffPotts #culturalMemory #WPSNews

#250thanniversary #americanhistory #autobiography #california #chicago #cliffpotts

Wim Van Mierlo @[email protected] · 2026-07-01 · 10:11 UTC

Monument of Geoffrey Chaucer as pilgrim, High Street, Canterbury (Kent) | April 2023

#Chaucer #CanterburyTales #literaryheritage #culturalmemory #monument #photography #blackandwhitephotography #monochrome #Nikon

More of me: https://www.clickasnap.com/profile/wvmierlo

Prints for sale: https://www.saal-digital.net/profiles/wim_van_mierlo/

#chaucer #canterburytales #literaryheritage #culturalmemory #monument #photography

scholar_farmer @[email protected] · 2026-04-26 · 20:21 UTC

Today's blog post: Pandemic music was not always about remembrance. Sometimes it was about distraction: parody songs, TikTok dances, sea shanties, Boccaccio, and the long, liminal hours in the shade of crisis. Plus a Kermit the Frog reference.

https://silencesandsounds.blogspot.com

#PandemicMusic #Musicology #CulturalMemory #SoundStudies #blog #research #distraction #CulturalAmnesia #Boccaccio #TikTok #parody

#pandemicmusic #musicology #culturalmemory #soundstudies #blog #research

GrrlScientist ⧖ Ⓥ :verified: @[email protected] · 2026-02-27 · 09:32 UTC

Indigenous Communities Report Dramatic Loss Of Large Bird Species Over 80 Years

"As the global avian extinction crisis accelerates, the loss of large-bodied birds is destroying local biodiversity and ecology, and eroding the cultural memory of Indigenous Peoples."

#SciComm by @GrrlScientist

#ExtinctionCrisis #birds #ornithology #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalMemory #Ecology #Environment #conservation https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2026/02/26/indigenous-communities-report-dramatic-loss-of-large-bird-species-over-80-years/

#scicomm #extinctioncrisis #birds #ornithology #indigenouspeoples #culturalmemory

GrrlScientist ⧖ Ⓥ 🇺🇦 @[email protected] · 2026-02-26 · 13:16 UTC

Indigenous Communities Report Dramatic Loss Of Large Bird Species Over 80 Years

"As the global avian extinction crisis accelerates, the loss of large-bodied birds is destroying local biodiversity and ecology, and eroding the cultural memory of Indigenous Peoples."

#SciComm by @grrlscientist

#ExtinctionCrisis #birds #ornithology #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalMemory #Ecology #Environment #conservation https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2026/02/26/indigenous-communities-report-dramatic-loss-of-large-bird-species-over-80-years/

#scicomm #extinctioncrisis #birds #ornithology #indigenouspeoples #culturalmemory

Institut für Musiksoziologie @[email protected] · 2026-01-26 · 19:43 UTC

International Conference

THE ARCHIVAL TURN IN MUSIC SOCIOLOGY
60 Years of Music Sociology @ mdw

🗓️ 5–7 February 2026
📍mdw – Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien
& online (Zoom)

Conference Programme & Info:
👉 https://www.mdw.ac.at/ims/events/the-archival-turn-in-music-sociology

This conference explores archives and historiographies in music sociology through feminist, queer, grassroots, and decolonial perspectives and draws attention to ethics and care, lived experiences, cultural labour, methodological questions, and the challenges of digitalisation and platforms.

Keynote Speakers:
› Kate Eichhorn (The New School, USA)
› Uchenna Ngwe (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance & Royal Academy of Music, UK)
› Nick Prior (University of Edinburgh, UK)

Organisers:
Tianyu Jiang, Rainer Prokop, Rosa Reitsamer
Department of Music Sociology
mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

#mdw #musicsociology #archives #archivalturn #musicsociology #culturalsociology #sociology #popularmusicstudies #culturalstudies #genderstudies #socialsciences #humanities #music #socialinequalities #inequality #class #race #ethnicity #gender #feminist #queer #culturalmemory #culturalheritage #culturalidentity #identity #Vienna

#mdw #musicsociology #archives #archivalturn #culturalsociology #sociology

Sanjay Mohindroo @[email protected] · 2026-01-04 · 07:51 UTC

Symbols move when people move them. Does the meaning of the Caduceus depend on history or on how we use it today? #Caduceus #Hermes #Mythology #AncientSymbols #CulturalMemory #TradeAndTravel #Symbolism #History
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/caduceus-staff-hermes-sanjay-k-mohindroo--mhmfc

#caduceus #hermes #mythology #ancientsymbols #culturalmemory #tradeandtravel

Flaming Desk @[email protected] · 2025-12-26 · 12:59 UTC

A Name Too Many: When Ego Tries to Rebrand History

When a sitting president flirts with renaming the Kennedy Center, the issue is not branding or humor. It is a revealing glimpse into ego, insecurity, and a dangerous urge to overwrite history itself.

https://jtwb7689.wordpress.com/2025/12/26/kennedy-cntr-renaming/

#americanhistory #artmatters #artsandculture #authoritarianism #civicinstitutions #civicnecessities

internetarchive @[email protected] · 2025-12-21 · 19:00 UTC

🎅 Santa has looked much the same on the page for generations. Preserving periodical covers like this one helps carry those familiar images forward, connecting how the season ❄️ was pictured then with how we recognize it now.

See more vintage images in our Holiday 2025 Periodical Art collection ⤵️ https://archive.org/details/%40iasocial/lists/6/holiday-2025-periodical-art

#HolidayArt #PeriodicalArt #Archives #CulturalMemory #ChristmasHistory #PrintCulture

#holidayart #periodicalart #archives #culturalmemory #christmashistory #printculture

internetarchive @[email protected] · 2025-12-17 · 20:00 UTC

Celebrate vintage winter style with these "The American Girl" magazine covers, published by the Girl Scouts. Left: December 1929 cover depicting three young women in colorful winter clothing. Right: December 1928 cover depicting a young woman with a billowing scarf, walking a dog as snow falls around them.

View more in this holiday collection ⤵️
https://archive.org/details/%40iasocial/lists/6/holiday-2025-periodical-art

#HolidayArt #PeriodicalArt #Archives #CulturalMemory #ChristmasHistory #PrintCulture

#holidayart #periodicalart #archives #culturalmemory #christmashistory #printculture

internetarchive @[email protected] · 2025-12-12 · 16:01 UTC

It’s the holiday season. Santa Claus is an icon of that history, but he wasn’t always reaching for a soda. 🎅

Covers, ads, and illustrations like these are part of our shared cultural heritage, and their preservation lets us experience not only Christmases past but also the media that shaped them.

Unwrap more vintage Holiday magazine art & more in our collection ⤵️
https://archive.org/details/@iasocial/lists/6/holiday-2025-periodical-art

#HolidayArt #PeriodicalArt #Archives #CulturalMemory #ChristmasHistory

#holidayart #periodicalart #archives #culturalmemory #christmashistory

Institut für Musiksoziologie @[email protected] · 2025-12-02 · 19:04 UTC

International Conference

THE ARCHIVAL TURN IN MUSIC SOCIOLOGY
5–7 February 2026
mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
Fanny Hensel-Hall
& online

Conference Programme & Info:
👉 https://www.mdw.ac.at/ims/events/the-archival-turn-in-music-sociology

Keynote Speakers:
› Kate Eichhorn (The New School, USA)
› Uchenna Ngwe (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance & Royal Academy of Music, UK)
› Nick Prior (University of Edinburgh, UK)

Organisers:
Tianyu Jiang, Rainer Prokop, Rosa Reitsamer
Department of Music Sociology
mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

#musicsociology #culturalsociology #sociology #popularmusicstudies #culturalstudies #genderstudies #socialsciences #humanities #music #archives #archivalturn #socialinequalities #inequality #class #race #ethnicity #gender #feminist #queer #antiracist #migrant #postmigrant #histories #culturalmemory #culturalheritage #culturalidentity #identity #mdw #Vienna

#musicsociology #culturalsociology #sociology #popularmusicstudies #culturalstudies #genderstudies

Harald Klinke @[email protected] · 2025-10-11 · 06:23 UTC

Europeana’s EUreka3D is reconstructing Europe’s cultural legacy in 3D and making it interoperable across institutions.
By merging archives, models, and metadata, it’s turning scattered memory into a shared spatial archive, usable for research, education, and public storytelling.
https://pro.europeana.eu/project/eureka3d-european-union-s-rekonstructed-content-in-3d
#DigitalHeritage #3DReconstruction #CulturalMemory

#digitalheritage #3dreconstruction #culturalmemory

Institut für Musiksoziologie @[email protected] · 2025-10-09 · 15:42 UTC

CONFERENCE CALL FOR PAPERS
› Extended Deadline for Abstract Submission: 12 October 2025

THE ARCHIVAL TURN IN MUSIC SOCIOLOGY
5-6 February 2026
mdw - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

Keynote speakers:
› Kate Eichhorn (The New School, USA)
› Uchenna Ngwe (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance & Royal Academy of Music, UK)

Organisers:
Tianyu Jiang, Rainer Prokop, Rosa Reitsamer, Lis Vovka

More info:
👉 https://www.mdw.ac.at/ims/events/the-archival-turn-in-music-sociology

#musicsociology #culturalsociology #sociology #culturalstudies #popularmusicstudies #music #archives #archivalturn #socialinequalities #inequality #class #race #ethnicity #gender #feminist #queer #migrant #postmigrant #histories #culturalmemory #culturalheritage #identity #mdw #Vienna

#musicsociology #culturalsociology #sociology #culturalstudies #popularmusicstudies #music

internetarchive @[email protected] · 2025-09-24 · 19:02 UTC

We’re not planning for a digital future: we’re living in a digital present. Can libraries, archives & museums build a just, sustainable & healthy cultural memory?

📖 Trevor Owens & Shannon Mattern discuss how in the #booktalk AFTER DISRUPTION.

🗓 TOMORROW, Thurs, Sept 25
🕖 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET
📍 ONLINE
🎟️ https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-after-disruption-a-future-for-cultural-memory-tickets-1633230118249

@tjowens #culturalmemory #digitalpreservation #libraries #archives #museums

#booktalk #culturalmemory #digitalpreservation #libraries #archives #museums

Assoc for Scottish Literature @[email protected] · 2025-09-10 · 13:22 UTC

“memory does not rest forever in the cast sculptures of the great and good. It changes, renewed with each generation, so that monuments take on new meaning and scrutiny”

—Dr Craig Lamont on Remembering RLS: Stevenson & Cultural Memory

https://www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2022/06/remembering-rls-stevenson-cultural-memory/

#Scottish #literature #RobertLouisStevenson #Victorian #19thcentury #memory #culturalmemory #commemoration

#commemoration #culturalmemory #memory #19thcentury #victorian #robertlouisstevenson

Alun Kirby @[email protected] · 2025-09-08 · 14:16 UTC

Experimenting with pattern layout. A new work about #culturalmemory.

It's made from 84 individual #origami #cyanotype images ( #metamorphogram ).

Combined they make new patterns and represent ideas of shared #memory, particularly of #Portuguese blue tiles ( #azulejos ).

Also, the connections they make show that shared memories are the building blocks of families, communities and cultures.

#blueprint #porto #PortoArt

#culturalmemory #origami #cyanotype #metamorphogram #memory #portuguese

Tyrone Tony Reed Jr. @[email protected] · 2025-05-09 · 04:02 UTC

“Either they don’t know, don’t show, or don’t care…”

Today’s #TonysTimelessThursdays revisits Boyz n the Hood — John Singleton’s masterpiece of pain, truth, and prophecy. Still urgent in light of the May 7, 2025 verdict.

🖤 https://wix.to/OMpBbVp

#BoyzNTheHood #JohnSingleton #BlackJustice #UrbanFilm #CulturalMemory #blackmastodon #Memphisverdict #justice4TyreNichols