Curating War Memory under Constraint

Abstract

Cultural institutions are increasingly recognised as key actors in global memory politics, particularly in efforts to address historical injustice through education, commemoration, and care. This paper examines how a war history museum in China–the Chinese ‘Comfort Women’ History Museum at Shanghai Normal University–curates histories of military sexual violence under cultural and political constraint while contributing to transnational memory activism. Emerging from academic research, survivor testimony, and cross-border collaboration, the museum functions as a translocal memory infrastructure: situated within a state-regulated environment yet actively shaping global networks of remembrance and solidarity. Through exhibitions, student training, volunteer mobilisation, digital media, and engagement with UNESCO’s Memory of the World initiative, the museum advances care-based, evidence-driven approaches to remembrance. It supports survivors, educates the public, and mobilises war memory not only as a resource for justice and education but also as a form of ethical and political intervention that challenges hegemonic historiographies. The paper contributes to public history, memory studies, and critical heritage scholarship by theorising university-based museums as hybrid cultural actors that navigate institutional constraints to reframe silenced histories within transnational movements for recognition and redress. Show more