The Memory of Places: Case Study on the Strategy Medellin Embraces its history – MASH and The Inflexion Memorial Park in the City of Medellin (Colombia) La memoria de los lugares: estudio de caso sobre la estrategia Medellín abraza su historia – MASH y el Parque Memorial Inflexión en la ciudad de Medellín (Colombia)

Abstract

When discussing history, society and culture, the city of Medellin’s recent past has been marked by its links to different forms of conlict. As part of the reparation to the victims, the Medellín Abraza su Historia – MASH – (2019) strategy was led by the Alcaldía de Medellín (Mayor’s Office of Medellin), with the intention of changing the unwanted memory linked to the past and representing it through actions, such as the construction of a memorial park in the same place where one of Pablo Escobar’s flagship buildings used to be. Through a case study as the main research method, techniques such as directed in-depth interviews and participant observation, we sought to find out if MASH contributed to the resignification of the memory of a city that is still linked to its violent past. From the actions contemplated in mash, especially the construction of said memorial park, a contribution is made to the discourse from the victims and not from the perpetrators. However, it is an institutional initiative, with a very marked view from the public power.