embarked on the study of trauma tourism from her visit to ... · pdf filemapping spectral...

Mapping Spectral Traces | Swetha Kumar

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Making Connections with Trauma Tourism

Introduction

“There isn’t a simple, single definition for deep mapping….It refers to traditions in literature and

visual or performance art that interweave with different elements of social and environmental

science and humanities disciplines,” stated Dr. Iain Biggs at the Mapping Spectral Traces

Symposium. During the symposium, participants were invited to connect the idea of mapping with

the concept of spectral traces or the haunting of past lives (Till, 2010). Mapping spectral traces

examines difficult pasts to see how they can be researched, documented, represented, and

animated in a comprehensive and moral way.

Laurie Beth Clark, PhD, studies mapping spectral traces by examining the concept of trauma

tourism. She defines trauma tourism as contradictions inherent in visiting places of memory (Clark,

2009). Heritage tourism is another type of tourism that may become closely intertwined with

trauma tourism. As defined by the National Trust for Historic Preservation (2009), heritage tourism

is the act of traveling to experience places, artifacts, and activities that authentically represent the

stories and people of the past and present. This essay examines trauma tourism through Laurie

Beth Clark’s project, Places of Memory. Through examples in Clark’s work as well as the exploration

of the April 16th Memorial, this paper explores the overlap between trauma tourism and heritage

tourism, where an individual’s culture and interest in visiting trauma sites connect to a

communities’ shared history.

Places of Memory

Laurie Beth Clark, PhD, Professor in the Department of Art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

uses Non-Static Forms to connect theory and practice by considering diverse cultures. In 2001, she

embarked on the study of trauma tourism from her visit to the World Trade Center. From

examining visitors capture their visit, Clark (2009) began investigating “into what cultures do with


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Places of Memory installation, Experiential Gallery, Blacksburg, Virginia © Laurie Beth Clark, 2006

sites that are so marked by trauma that they cannot be

fully recuperated for normal, quotidian uses.”

Throughout her work, Clark has tracked trauma tourism

memorials around the world. These memorials serve

multiple functions as a place for mourning, healing,

learning, and embracing for the dead, the community,

and tourists.

The installation, Places of Memory, depicted below

explores trauma memorials all around the world.

Currently, it can be seen at the Experiential Gallery in

Blacksburg, Virginia. This interactive exhibit allows

gallery viewers to visit <http://traumatourism.net> and <http://traumatourism.wordpress.com/>.

The first screen shows Trauma Tourism, a Google Earth layer, tracking memorials from all around

the world. Viewers are able to reflect on their own experiences in visiting a place of memory by

adding the site on the Google Earth layer and attaching a pushpin registering their visit on the

world map. Another screen allows viewers to share experiences, suggest locations, describe

practices and make comments on the project’s blog. Overall, the exhibit provides a comfortable

setting with photographs and artifacts associated with different trauma memorials for gallery

Laurie Beth Clark, Department of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison


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viewers.

Strategies on how places of memory perform through history by site development and visitor

interactions can be examined using the compilation of Places of Memory. Clark (2009) expounds

four main strategies for performing history to be stories, space, objects, and interactions. Stories

serve as “pedagogical functions” by displaying text and graphics in an organized manner or offering

tours with narrative descriptions. Blogger Chazen reflects on his visit to Yad Vashem as, “A place

that seeks to articulate the inarticulatable through wall text, posters and videos does nothing for

the memories of those who suffer because of the Shoah” (TraumaTourism, 2008). Even though the

Yad Vashem memorial did not do justice through stories, it is the goal of all sites to serve as

remembrance. Space deals with the structural aspect of facilitating “participation and

identification” which usually means compensating for the large emptiness of the existing places of

memory (Clark, 2009). For example, Blogger AKV describes the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of

Europe, “The memorial consists of over 2,000 cement slabs which are vertically arranged on a full

city block in the middle of the city” (TraumaTourism, 2008). Next strategy is the use of objects or

artifacts to serve as trace evidence. It can be as simple as placing a skull, like the one displayed in

the Places of Memory installation, to show evidence of war violence. Lastly, Clark mentions the

interactions between visitors and the trauma site. Blogger Rachel describes her visit to a

crematorium where she could light a candle over the ovens as a reminder of all those who endured

death (TraumaTourism, 2008). These four main strategies function as components of trauma

tourism; they are “a service of remembrance for the dead, for the community and for trauma

tourists” (Clark, 2009).

Connecting Trauma and Culture

From examining Laurie Beth Clark’s installation Places of Memory and strategies for performing

history, it is seen that trauma tourism is closely linked to the elements of heritage or cultural


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tourism. “Cultural tourism…is defined as travel directed toward experiencing the traditional and

contemporary culture, arts, and special character of a place” (Cosmescu & Dudau, 2008). Lennon

and Foley (1999) describe dark (trauma) tourism as travel to places associated with death, disaster,

and depravity. Through postmodern times, they have studied how dark tourism is evolving to

include social aspects such as ethnic and racial foci and cultural relativism.

Dr. Andrea Hausmann, Associate Professor of Cultural Management at Europa-Universität Viadrina

in Frankfurt and Head of the Master’s program Arts Management and Cultural Tourism has been

researching cultural entrepreneurship and leadership in arts. In “Cultural Tourism: Marketing

Challenges and Opportunities for German Cultural Heritage,” Hausmann (2007) discusses common

aspects of cultural tourism. First, cultural tourism attracts tourists who travel for pleasure and

those without prior knowledge about the culture of a place. “The tourist brings a perfectly

legitimate desire to witness the heritage and to situate that experience within their construction of

the historical traditions they have come to accept” (Cosmescu & Dudau, 2008). Being another form

of special-interest tourism, trauma tourism also attracts visitors who may not know about the

trauma memorial and offers an affordable attraction. Secondly, the tourism offers the use of

heritage sites like trauma tourism sites which provide stories and space for visitors. The next two

aspects are interconnected in that cultural tourism must provide for the preferences of its visitors

and provide various experiences that can be customized and transformed. These aspects are in line

with the strategy to provide interactions between the visitor and the site. The experience at a site

especially for those not from the area must provide a sense of a “aha moment” or enlightenment to

cause the visitor to do something. Finally, Hausmann (2007) states the importance of cultural

tourism to “link heritage perspectives with tourism needs and to balance out both interests… to

ensure that the experiences offered to cultural tourists maintain fundamentally authentic.”


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Apart from the similarities in their elements, trauma and cultural tourism attract a specific type of

tourist to a particular site. Erika M. Robb of Department of Anthropology at University of

Wisconsin-Madison examines trauma tourism to be concerned with the position of the witness.

This concept can be illustrated in the image of violent action to be where the “victim, perpetrator,

and the witness reflect different conceptual positions forming a triangle with violence at its center”

(Robb, 2009). By using the image of violent action, site developers design a particular site to appeal

to tourists’ expectation and imagination. The types of sites discussed in Robb’s “Violence and

Recreation: Vacationing in the Realm of Dark Tourism” attract specific types of tourists, similar to

cultural tourists, who arrive for a unique experience.

Types of Cultural Tourists © Andrea Hausmann

As shown in the figure above, Hausmann (2007) describes four main types of cultural tourists:

highly motivated people, people motivated in part, people with other primary interests, and

accidental visitors. These four groups of tourists can resemble characteristics of the common types

of trauma sites. The first set of people are engrossed in culture and they travel just to admire

various forms of cultural sites—interpretive and historical. Hausmann (2007) suggests these

people are attracted to museums, cultural landscapes, churches and festivals. Interpretive or

historical sites are traditionally narrative approaches leading tourists through history. “[These]

sites anchor tourists in a witness position, distant in space and time from more visceral


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elements…safely contained in a museum” (Robb, 2009). However, the remaining three types of

tourist experiences do not correlate with the remaining types of tourists due to the extremity of the

experiences offered. People motivated in part, people who adjunct to another motivation, and

accidental tourists are not fully looking for the cultural experience associated with being in the

location; they have other motives or simply do not wish to visit these sites (Hausmann, 2007). The

remaining types of sites are specially geared to tourists who visit the site for more of an emotional

and interactive experience associated with the traumatic event that took place.

April 16th Memorial

From reviewing similarities between trauma tourism and cultural tourism, one can study the April

16th Memorial at Virginia Tech to see how it has connected an individual’s culture and interest to

the community’s history. On the morning of April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho twenty-three year old

English major set out on his revolution or the “End of the road” (Alvis-Banks & Mallory, 2007). The

Virginia Tech senior was a highly disturbed student both in his writings and in the classroom.

Carrying two firearms, Cho fired two shots in West AJ and then proceeded to Norris Hall where he

systematically fired shots moving from room to room. His rampage killed thirty-two individuals

including five professors, nine graduate

students, four seniors, two juniors,

three sophomores and nine freshmen.

This deadly shooting reverberated

throughout the world, uniting people

together as Hokies. Cho’s sister stated

that ‘[Cho] made the whole world weep’

(Alvis-Banks & Mallory, 2007).

April 16th Memorial, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia


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Late April 16, 2007, three students of the Hokies United group carried thirty-two Hokie Stones to an

area of the Drillfield facing Burruss Hall (O'Connor, 2008). These stones formed a semi-circle each

representing a victim of the shootings. People flocked to the site to remember and honor those who

had passed away. A permanent April 16th Memorial was dedicated on August 19, 2007. The

memorial pictured on the previous page shows the original thirty-two stones now engraved with

slain victims’ names. The center stone reads “We Will Prevail, We are Virginia Tech” in

remembrance for all fifty-seven victims. In addition, the second floor of Norris Hall, where the

shootings occurred was established as the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention in

2008.

The permanent April 16th memorial will serve as a trauma site for generations to come. It

embodies Clark’s strategies for performing history: stories, space, objects, and interactions. There is

a narrative display available for visitors to learn about the massacre that took place on that dreary

April 16, 2007. Space is made up by the thirty-two Hokie stones lined in a semicircle in the middle

of the Virginia Tech campus. However, the strategy to place objects has not been accommodated

into the setting perhaps to respect the victims and the campus setting of the memorial. Lastly, the

memorial provides ample opportunity for interactions from visitors. Since the stones were first

laid, members of the Virginia Tech and Blacksburg community have passed by the memorial to pay

their respects to the victims and place “items ranging from birthday cards to blown out eggs to

volleyballs” (O'Connor, 2008).


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In addition to being a highly visited trauma memorial, the April 16th memorial also serves as a

cultural site for Virginia Tech. The culture associated with the site is its relationship to the campus

community. The picture shows the interactions left by an individual and the Virginia Tech

community who visited Jaime Bishop on his thirty-ninth birthday. Each year on April 16, the

Virginia Tech community remembers these thirty-two victims. Individuals, family members,

members from Virginia Tech and Blacksburg community and outside visitors, gather at the site for a

common interest to pay homage to the victims and share a part of Virginia Tech’s history. This past

year on Friday, April 16, 2010, artist Rebecca Ronesi, the original painter of the thirty-two golden

dragonflies, attended the third annual ceremony. The artist who had viewed the incident on

television felt connected to the community and wanted to help the families heal. She exclaimed, ‘Art

can be an emotional thing. When I did the Virginia Tech painting, it brought me to full-on, sobbing

tears. Each dragonfly I painted represented someone out there in the world who was very special’

(Donna, 2010). Her personal visit to the memorial vividly showed her interests in being a part of

the community’s history. Mark Owczarski, Virginia Tech spokesman shared, ‘This is an opportunity

for people to come together recognize how much we meant to another and show the strength of the

community’ (Donna, 2010). The experience of visiting the April 16th memorial has become more

than just a trauma memorial but a cultural experience for those who visit Virginia Tech.

Conclusion

Mapping Spectral Traces is the practice of marking places “constitutively by acts of violence and

injustice…[where] individuals may come into contact with past lives through objects, natures and

remnants” (Till, Mapping Spectral Traces Exhibitions Catalog, 2010). Dr. Karen E. Till (2010),

Associate Professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech, adds,

“Through the practice of mapping spectral traces, we might begin sketching contours that connect

lives and places in one time to those understood as being located in another” (p.3). This notion of


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mapping spectral traces is interconnected to place making in which space is a part of cultural and

becomes a part of society through time.

Laurie Beth Clark, PhD, uses the practice of mapping spectral traces through place making in her

installation Places of Memory. Gallery viewers are invited to mark their visits to trauma memorials

as well as share their experiences via blogging. This interactive installation provides a better

understanding of trauma tourism through Clark’s strategies for performing history. Examples of

each strategy can be found within the blog providing insight into what tourists experience by

visiting trauma memorials.

By exploring Clark’s strategies for performing history, there can be a better connection formed

between trauma tourism and cultural tourism. Elements discussed by Clark are similar to the

common aspects of cultural tourism outlined by Dr. Andrea Hausmann. Both types of tourism work

to enhance the tourist experience by customizing the experience to a tourist’s interest to provide

knowledge and wonderment. The attraction of a specific type of tourist to a particular site was also

examined through the work of Erika Robb and Hausmann. The sites discussed by Hausmann and

Robb show that those who choose cultural tourism range from being highly influenced by culture to

showing no inclination to visiting cultural sites. On the other hand, types of trauma sites outlined by

Robb attract an interest driven tourist who wants to immerse his or herself in the community’s

history. Despite the differences in trauma and cultural tourism, “tourism is important in generating

knowledge, wherein an event, history or a famous person’s life and death can be internalized and

inscribed within the being of the visitor” (Robb, 2009).

On April 16, 2007, thirty-two victims were mercilessly shot by a distraught Virginia Tech senior. To

remember these victims, the April 16th Memorial serves as a trauma memorial for individuals and

the community to visit and pay respects. This memorial over time has become a part of the culture

experience of the Virginia Tech community. Mary Tartaro, Art Programs Coordinator and Director


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of Perspective Gallery at Virginia Tech, stated, “It’s the whole idea of there being a worldwide Hokie

community and what ties us together” (Donna, 2010). During this year’s ceremony, art was added

to the mix of activities allowing visitors (tourists) to actively partake in the healing process. The

community can choose to bring art and healing as a way for visitors to remember the victims. Lily

Yeh, founder of the Village of Arts and Humanities says, ‘though art we transform the grittiness of

everyday life into energy, beauty, joy, strength, to help us face the future’ (Elizabeth & Young,

2006).


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Bibliography

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Donna, L. (2010, April 15). Art shows pain, healing at Va. Tech. USA Today.

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