Op 10 November 2022 (11u-12u30) organiseert de Vrije Universiteit Brussel een fascinerende lezing, gegeven door Beat Kümin (University of Warwick, U.K.) op de campus Etterbeek. Voor meer informatie, surf naar de volgende weblink: https://host.research.vub.be/en/public-lecture-beat-kumin-to-dear-posterity-managing-memory-through-tower-ball-deposits-in-the
Since the late Middle Ages, urban and rural communities of different confessions have marked the completion of prominent buildings by placing chronicles and objects into golden spheres located on top of towers. In this liminal position between earth and heaven, the archives remain inaccessible and sometimes forgotten until the next major repairs, when new items are often added by successive generations. How can we make sense of this peculiar, ‘bottom-up’ and regionally circumscribed custom and what can it tell us about local memory cultures more generally? A public lecture, just ahead of an important day of remembrance in Belgium and many other countries, investigates.