The Dynamics of Shaping War Memory in the Museum

Over the past two decades, the Sihang Warehouse Battle Memorial, a significant heritage site that highlights Shanghai’s wartime resistance during the Second Sino-Japanese War, has been characterized by interesting interactions between conservation and display that warrant scholarly attention. This essay explores the museum-making process and the role that it plays in shaping and disseminating narratives, particularly with regard to how memories of war that lie outside the mainstream are interpreted, exhibited, and communicated. Set against the backdrop of political directives, it examines photographs from historical newspapers, archives, museum collections, and on-site sources spanning from 1937 to the present. The goal is to explore how museums address and present alternative perspectives on war. By analyzing the curatorial decisions and exhibition strategies that have been employed in this context, this paper aims to investigate the complex dynamics that characterize the relationships among memory, politics, and historical representation in the museum context. It investigates how museums navigate the portrayal of individuals and emotions in the process of recounting war by mediating between official narratives and public recollections. In this context, the Memorial is a paradigmatic case that emerges as a product of political reenactment, while the corresponding exhibition narratives represent a departure from political constraints, thereby providing a platform from which the public can engage with and critically assess wartime history. This process involves balancing the remembrance of past conflicts with their legacies.