Private griefs, public places

Monuments, unlike occupations, riots, or demonstrations, endure ‘trials by space’ that are complicated by the extended passage of time. In this article, two monuments in Vancouver, BC, both concerned with the issues of violence against women, are examined in terms of how these complications illuminate imagined, discursive, and physical domains of public space. In particular, the development of these monuments is analyzed in terms of geographic scale, the interlocking systems of race, class, and gender, and the politics of visibility. Such analyses suggest extensions to the ways proponents can advocate for and defend public spaces.