A Statue by the Sea:

Memory, Resistance, and Universal Women’s Rights in Stintino, Sardinia 

Dr. Agnese Dionisio 

January 8, 2026, 

18:00-19:30 

Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University 

In person only/No registration required 

This talk is based on research I have conducted for a paper on the first “Statue of Peace” (평화의 소녀상) installed in Italy, in the small coastal town of Stintino, Sardinia, on June 22, 2024. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews conducted in May–June 2025, the talk explores the local actors and community dynamics that made this memorial possible, as well as the tensions it generated. It highlights how a retired Italian teacher’s passion for Korean culture intersected with a feminist mayor’s commitment to combating gender violence, forming an unlikely but powerful alliance for historical memory and women’s rights. The statue in Stintino demonstrates how local communities can respond to significant external pressures with resilience, while also challenging dominant political and social narratives, and offers a universal statement against sexual violence and gender-based oppression. 

Agnese Dionisio earned her PhD from Waseda University, Japan, in March 2025. She was awarded a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship and began her research at Sophia University in October 2025. Her research interests include modern Japanese history, feminist historiography, feminist art, and, more specifically, the study of civilian and military sexual slavery in the Asia-Pacific region, with a focus on Micronesia. In 2023, her paper was shortlisted for the Teresia Teaiwa Prize at the 25th Pacific History Association Biennial Conference, and she has published articles in academic journals such as The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus and Women’s History Review. 

This talk is organized by Sven Saaler (Professor, Sophia University).