Workshop: "Heritage Studies and Socialism: Transnational Perspectives on Heritage in Eastern and Central Europe" (Giessen, Germany, 23-25 November 2016)

For young researchers with an interest in transnational history, here is a recent call to attend the workshop from GCSC and Herder Institut titled "Heritage Studies and Socialism: Transnational Perspectives on Heritage in Eastern and Central Europe" -taking place in Giessen, Germany on 23-25 November 2016. The call explains:

In the last decade, heritage studies have emerged as a field of cross-disciplinary research covering the topics including the built environment, museums and collections, urban planning, memory, and tourism. This workshop brings together both early career researchers and established researchers for a discussion about the concept of heritage in relation to the Eastern and Central European region. In light of the different traditions in heritage policies and property rights, what notion of heritage do we employ for the study of heritage in socialist and post-socialist societies? Using this question as a point of departure, the presentations seek to critically engage with the field of heritage studies and reflect on core concepts such as authenticity and originality. We discuss the advantages and limitations of these approaches when applied to the (post-) socialist context, while also bringing together alternative approaches from the examples presented during the workshop.

The program follows:

Program

Wednesday, 23 November 2016

16:00 – Registration

17:15-19:00 – Keynote Lecture by Astrid Swenson (London): When is Heritage? Temporality and Transnational History Moderation: Katharina Stornig (Giessen)

Thursday 24 November

09:00 – Introduction Eszter Gantner (Marburg), Corinne Geering (Giessen)

09:30-11:00 – Panel 1: Socialist Interpretations of Heritage Chair: Markus Krzoska (Giessen) Melinda Harlov (Budapest): Vernacular Heritage in Hungary, a Category that Fitted to the Socialist Ideology Alexandra Urdea (Sussex): The Museum of the Village - the Politics of Patrimony in Ceauşescu's Romania Nele-Hendrikje Lehmann (Freiberg): Industrial Heritage in the GDR, 1949-1989

Coffee Break

11:30-13:00 – Panel 2: Heritage Actors Chair: Nicole Immig (Jena/Giessen) Bianka Trötschel-Daniels (Dortmund): The 'Heritage Council' in the GDR Alicja Gzowska (Warsaw): Socialist Fraternal Assistance or Commercial Success? International Activities of Polish State Workshops for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage Olga Olkheft (St. Petersburg): "We are the Rare Place Where the 'Iron Curtain' Played a Positive Role": The Conservative Tradition of the State Hermitage Restoration

Lunch at Mensa

14:15-15:15 – Keynote Lecture by Michael Falser (Heidelberg): "Saving Angkor" during the last Breath of Cold War Politics. Heritage Studies in a Transcultural Perspective Moderation: James Mark (Exeter)

Coffee Break

15:30-16:30 – Panel 3: Heritage and Communist Internationalism  Chair: Stella Basinyi (Giessen) Nelly Bekus (Exeter): Tracing Multiple Logics in Soviet Heritage-Making: pan-Soviet, National and International Agencies of Cultural Power  Svetlana Boltovskaja (Marburg): Soviet Heritage and Communist Internationalism: Eastern European and African encounters

Coffee Break

16:45-18:15 – Panel 4: International Organisations Chair: Corinne Geering (Giessen) Kerstin Stamm (Bonn): The New Internationale? East and West at the International Council of Monuments and Sites, ICOMOS Julia Röttjer (Darmstadt): Committees of International Experts and Sites of National Martyrdom: Socialist Poland's Contribution to the Early World Heritage Program Diána Vonnák (Halle): UNESCO on the Ground in the Restoration of the Golden Rose Synagogue in Lviv

Friday, 25 November 2016

9:15-10:30 – Panel 5: The Revalorisation of Socialist Heritage Chair: Immo Rebitschek (Jena) Emanuela Grama (Pittsburgh): Heritage-Making and State-Unmaking in Postsocialist Romania Andreas Schönle (London): Appropriating Stalinist Heritage: State Rhetoric in the Repurposing of VDNKh Ewa Ciszewska (Łódź): Socialist Film Animation Heritage in the Service of Contemporary Polish Animation Production and Museum Practices

Coffee Break

11:00-12:00 – Keynote Lecture by Vladimir Levin (Jerusalem): Jewish Heritage in the Soviet Union Moderation: Antje Coburger (Marburg)

Lunch at Mensa

13:15-14:45 – Panel 6: Urban Planning and the Historic City Chair: Eszter Gantner (Marburg) Liliana Iuga (Budapest): "Every Town Has a Historical Past, yet not Every Historical Past is Valuable" - Approaches to the Concept and Management of the Historic Town in Socialist Romania Čeněk Pýcha (Prague): Socialist Heritage Preservation in Northern Bohemia. Making Sense in the Public Space Biljana Stefanovska (Darmstadt): Semantic Shift in Architectural Language: Remodelling the City Center of Skopje

Coffee Break

15:15-16:15 – Panel 7: Memory and Heritage Chair: Paul Vickers (Giessen) Iryna Sklokina (Lviv): Traveling in the Soviet Ukraine: the Making of the National Memory Canon through Heritage Tourism Practices Ewa Stańczyk (Amsterdam): Transnational Heritage: On the Uses of Jewish Photographs

16:15-17:00 Concluding Discussion

Interested in participating? Then contact the organizers at: at:heritageandsocialism@gmail.com