Remix Culture: the comfort of nostalgia in uncertain times

A post by Michael Smyth

In the city of Bristol UK, during the summer of 2020 a bronze statue was toppled by protesters, dragged through the streets to the harbour and thrown into the sea. In the grand scheme of things, this might seem like a small local disturbance, but what it actually raised were much more fundamental questions about our relationships with the past and how these are affected by the present and possible futures. The statue was of Edward Colston, a 17th century merchant and slave trader who was born in Bristol. Colston’s memory had been divisive for years, with some thinking history can’t be changed and others campaigning successfully for his name to be erased from streets, schools and venues. The toppling of the statue served as a powerful reminder that the past is intimately bound up with futures and critically that the past is also a contested space. It is subject to many different interpretations when viewed through the lens of the present.