Abstract
The Museum of Atheism was an established in a former church in the capital of LIthuania. It echoed similar institutions in other cultural centres of the Soviet Union. With the fall of the regime the church was returned back to the faithful and its collections were transferred to National Museum o Lithuania. This paper dedicated to the theme of “the idea of ‘heritage’: changing conceptions of what counts” inquires into the legacies of the Soviet atheist doctrine and colonization practices on the collections of sacred art and discusses frameworks within which these legacies are manifested and coped with. Recontextualizing of the previously unexplored collection of icons accumulated over several decades through state-led illegitimate practices and the analysis of archival materials (inventories, display projects, visitor records, media references, etc.), the paper identifies strategies employed to assert ideological dominance and patterns of shaping the collective memory through collections and displays. As a result, it contributes towards critical review of the heritage of occupations placing it within broader discourse of Museum Studies. Tracing the institution’s development, social role, and legacy and demonstrating the complexities of this heritage, the paper argues that the Museum of Atheism functioned as institution of oblivion and proposes frameworks of ethical engagement with the contested collection.
Presenters
Karolina BukovskyteStudent, MA in Art History, Lithuanian Culture Research Institute, Lithuania
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Contemporary history,sacred art,policies of memory,contentious heritage
