L’art contemporain traversé par la mémoire ou la survivance de l’histoire des guerres

Abstract

This article addresses the contribution of contemporary artistic creation to the (com)memoration of a conflicted past. The art of recent decades seems to have been permeated by questions of history and memory, to the point of giving rise to a new artisticposture, that of the "artist-historian". Through the prism of France’s Grand Est region, we examine the possible transmission of a complex and ambiguous heritage through recent artworks and exhibitions, combining research (archives) and fiction.In the footsteps of a partially traumatic past, characterized by two annexations by Germany, we postulate, based on the research project Paysage(s) de l’étrange(Landscape(s) of the Strange), that contemporary art can contribute to commemoration and raise awareness of ruptures and gaps in history, while offering a rereading of historical facts through their anchorage in intimate experience. We conclude by putting into perspective an open andtransversal history of art, in the manner of Aby Warburg’s Mnemosyne Atlas.