14:34 20.05.2024

Drobovych: Memorialization of Russia-Ukraine war to be complicated

3 min read
Drobovych: Memorialization of Russia-Ukraine war to be complicated

Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance Anton Drobovych notes that memorializing the Russian-Ukrainian war will be difficult, but a new world-class memorial language is being formed in Ukraine.

"Memorializing the war will be difficult, and it is already difficult. Many people have a Soviet understanding of memorialization practices, and a lack of resources. And sometimes the process turns into not very high-quality memorialization," Drobovych said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

At the same time, he noted that objects of a new level and a new memorial culture are also appearing. In particular, the Cross of Heroes memorial was created in Vyshgorod, the Volia memorial has been recently opened in Irpin, there is an Open Fracture project in Irpin, and a competition of architectural projects for memorialization in the village of Yahidne was held.

"It annoys me that many in the government and parliament talk about the importance of this direction, but they really never go beyond slogans. I have not seen at least one political force putting pressure on the budget committee to adopt some kind of program, for example, to preserve old Cossack cemeteries or create specific memorial projects dedicated to this war," the head of the Institute complained.

In turn, Drobovych drew attention to the fact that memorials appeared in Ukraine during a full-scale war is incredible. "We have rockets flying in, we don't have electricity for half a day, regional centers find themselves in ruins, and we already manage to build memorial facilities. This did not happen during the Second World War. Mass memorialization took several decades after the war," the official said.

The head of the Institute stressed that, in his opinion, a new world-class memorial language has been forming in Ukraine for at least the last five years.

"Now Ukraine is actually a place that proves that the old memorial languages and approaches do not work as they should, in particular those according to which museums, public spaces, monuments were built all over the world, which should tell and warn against the repetition of wars and genocides in Europe and the world," he added.

As reported, Drobovych considers it necessary to create a legal entity for the Museum of the History of the Russia-Ukraine War with a core of specialists who would search, compile a collection and prepare conceptual solutions. At the same time, he does not know if there are enough resources for this.

In addition, Drobovych says that a new landmark place has been found for the National Pantheon of Ukrainian Heroes in the center of Kyiv, but its construction is possible only after the stabilization of the Ukrainian economy.

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