Antagonisms of Memory in Post-Maidan Kyiv

After the Maidan revolution and Russian military occupation of Ukraine in 2014, the realm of memory has been occupied by militarism and political reaction. In the context of war and nationalist discursive dominance as one of its outcomes, "patriotic" populism has been trying to externalize the Soviet period and retroactively nationalize historical memory. The policies of decommunization took a harsh and violent form in the city space destroying the imagery and monuments inherited from the socialist past. The film explores several communist memorials in today's Kyiv that are still difficult to integrate into the nation-state framework as constantly disturbing sites of political discontent.

Curators and film directors Sarmen Beglarian, Sylwia Szymaniak
Camera and editing Michał Matejko
Drone operator Oleh Veheria

Antagonisms of Memory in Post-Maidan Kyiv was produced by Polish Modern Art Foundation in the frame of the project "Forming Memory. Monuments in Central Europe" financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as part of the Multiannual Program INDEPENDENT 2017-2021 and the grant program of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute "Cultural Bridges."

Monument is a collaboration between e-flux Architecture and Het Nieuwe Instituut.

Vasyl Cherepanyn is Head of the Visual Culture Research Center (VCRC), an institutional organizer of the Kyiv Biennial.

Sarmen Beglarian is an art curator based in Warsaw, Poland. He is curating Biuro Wystaw and Keret House, units of the Polish Modern Art Foundation.

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