Kigali Genocide Memorial (KGM) and Peace Building: A Descriptive Study in the Context of UNESCO’s Anthropological Perspectives

Abstract

Public memorials and monuments attract millions of visitors each year and, in town squares and villages throughout the countries, it is common to find memorials honoring fallen soldiers and victims during war and genocides, the town’s founder, or a significant event in the community’s history 1 . In this line, memorial sites play a great role in conservation of humankind’s memory through remembrances about what happened and its value in the life course. Genocide memorial sites also conserve bodies and sometimes the materials used in the period of genocide. The crucial example is KGM where victims are buried not to be lost by the time but to remain as facts of the history.