by jdsmith 1021

Tomorrow, tickets for the 9/11 Memorial Plaza & Museum which opens on 12 September can be reserved online. The Memorial Plaza & Museum on the World Trade Centre, built to honor victims of the attacks and their families, is expecting to be inundated with visitors.
 
But the plaza itself raises issues of memory and closure. The official website asserts that ‘the Museum attests to the triumph of human dignity over human depravity’. But what about the politics of memory? Is it better to accept quietly and remember solemnly, or is a large scale display and site more respectful? The museum will house a chamber featuring profiles and photos of individual victims, for members of the public to ‘bear witness’. Again, this scheme treads the line between dignified remembrance and a ‘gallery’, where the scale overwhelms and numbs the viewer. Visitors will pass the historic “Survivors’ Stairs”, where thousands fled, with their lives intact. But this harsh memory could, to some, seem like an idolised relic, placed for impact, not for contemplation.
 
On 6 September we address the politics of memory and 9/11 head on with our debate, ‘The war on terror was the right response to 9/11’.  
 
www.intelligencesquared.com/events/war-on-terror