“Historical memory is like a pendulum that swings in different directions”: an interview with historian Anton Liahusha as part of the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by Rinat Akhmetov Foundationч

On March 27, the Kyiv History Museum hosted a public interview with historian Anton Liahusha. The meeting was organised as part of the documentary project of the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

The topic of the conversation is “Memory of War: How Ukraine Comprehends Trauma and Builds the Future”. The conversation was moderated by Nataliia Yemchenko, SCM Communications Director and member of the Supervisory Board of Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

During the conversation, the historian noted that the memory of the people is like a pendulum that can swing in different directions, depending on political, social and cultural circumstances.

“The Ukrainian War for Independence turned memory into a quasi-political entity. After all, the topic of memory is now present in both legislative acts and educational programmes. It doesn’t make decisions, but it definitely guides us,” explains Anton Liahusha, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Academic Director of the Master’s Programme in Memory and Public History Research.

According to him, every Ukrainian will live with the experience of the war even after it ends. There is already a great demand for memorialisation in Ukraine, as society seeks to preserve the memory of the tragic events and heroic deeds of Ukrainians.

“People need tangible objects because we walk the streets and roads. But I am sure that digital memory is also very important – it is accessible, easy to store, and allows us to easily distribute large amounts of data,” says Anton Liahusha.

The Museum of Civilian Voices founded by Rinat Akhmetov Foundation is also making efforts to preserve national memory. The archive already contains more than 130,000 stories about the war. It is the world’s largest collection of stories of civilians affected by russia’s war against Ukraine.

“The topic of archiving information and how to act to preserve the maximum value for the nation is extremely relevant. It is important that everyone can contribute to the creation of a common memory bank”, said Nataliia Yemchenko.

The public interviews are part of the Museum of Civilian Voices series of cultural events aimed at preserving the memory of the war. The documentary project is currently titled “Diaries of the Civilians: Voices of those who survived and those who did not”. Follow the announcements of the events on the social media of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and on the Museum’s website https://civilvoicesmuseum.org/