ABSTRACT
This chapter engages with memory, public art and anti-monuments to delve into the processes by which memorial value is produced in and through place. It contributes to the discussion over what makes a monument commemorative by investigating Shamaï Haber’s unnamed sculpture in the heart of Paris at the foot of the modernist Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, where once stood a military prison. Archival research traces the massive granite monument from design to public reception, revealing that commemorability rests less on artistic intent or institutional purpose than on local history, memory of place, collective imaginary and contemporary spatial context. Findings show that multi-layered symbolic value has been ascribed by actors who have interacted with and interpreted the non-figurative piece, reinforcing that explicit commemorative purpose is not necessary for memorial function to emerge and that cultural significance is shaped at the intersection of the public’s gaze and the dynamics of place.
