'En quête du passé' (In search of the past)
A temporary exhibition organised by 'Les Territoires de la Mémoire'.
What did my grandmother do during the Second World War? What happened in my village? Were people deported? Were any children hidden? Were there any arrests? These are just some of the questions frequently asked by historians and institutions working on the history of World War II. There are a number of tools available to answer these questions, including sites, locations and publications. Unfortunately, all these tools are still poorly known to the public and to those seeking to understand their past. All too often, research still comes up against a wall of silence that needs to be deconstructed. A major challenge for anyone interested in public history!
To meet this challenge, Territoires de la Mémoire has launched a project entitled « En quête du passé » ("In search of the past").
What is it all about?
The initiative takes the form of an atypical exhibition opening in Liège on July 1. Atypical in the sense that the aim is not to present collections to the public, but rather documentary resources of all kinds, as well as biographical itineraries. These itineraries will be presented alongside a series of existing tools, all of which are essential milestones in tracing the thread of history and/or memory.
This initiative is the brainchild of Rebecca Bingen, a student librarian/documentalist working with the Territoires de la Mémoire team. In addition to the tools available on site, there will also be plenty of space for other scientific institutions invited to present their initiatives in this field. These include the Arolsen Archives, the War Heritage Institute, Kazerne Dossin, IHOES and many others! Cegesoma/State Archives will also be present. This will be an opportunity to highlight several of our initiatives, including the book coordinated by Fabrice Maerten "Papy était-il un héros? Sur les traces des hommes et des femmes dans la Résistance pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale", as well as the www.belgiumwwii.be website and the Wikibase Resistance project.
In short, a great opportunity to visit "La Cité ardente" this summer, and especially the Cité Miroir, where this free exhibition will be on display from July 1 to September 3, 2023. We're sure it will be a great help to budding researchers and others alike…