First Edition 1-12 Aug 2016

“Heritage of Absence. Remembering Intangible Multiethnic Heritage in Central-East European Borderlands”

 

Monday, August 1. Vilnius

  • Arrival in Vilnius, meeting point:

Hotel „Ecotel Vilnius“
Slucko str. 8, Vilnius

 

  • 15:30 – 17:00 Guided Tour to the Memorial Complex of Tuskulėnai Peace Park (webpage http://genocid.lt/tuskulenai/en/, address: Žirmūnų Str. 1F)
  • 19:00 BBQ, location: courtyard of Maironio st. 7

 

Tuesday, August 2. Vilnius

Venue: Vilnius Jewish Library, Gedimino pr. 24-9

9.00 – 9.30 Welcome from the Organizers

Key-note lectures:

9.30-10.15

Dr. Violeta Davoliute (Yale University) Lithuanian Memory and the “Difficult Heritage”

10.15-11.00

Prof. Dr. Rasa Čepaitienė (Vilnius University) Lithuanian and Belarusian Memory Politics in a Comparative Perspective

11.00-11.45

Dr. Lara Lempert (University of Vilnius) The Visible and the Invisible Jewish Heritage in Lithuania

12.00-14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.30

Introduction Session / Part One

Panel 1. Difficult Heritage in Museums:

Aleksandra Kubica: Moving Memory: the Reception of Museum on Wheels, the Travelling Project of POLIN, Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

Nadzeya Charapan: Communication of Multiethnic/Difficult Heritage in Museums.

Panel 2. Holocaust Memory:

Yura Radchenko: Hilfspolizei, Self-government and the Holocaust in Ukrainian-Russian-Belorussian Borderland: Motivation, Identity, Collective Portrait and Memory.

Anja Reuss: Possibilities and Limits of Biographical Research. An Exhibition and Commemorative Book about Jewish Life and its Destruction in Berlin and Minsk“

Thomas Van de Putte: Reenacting Auschwitz. The Performance of Memories of Occupation, war and genocide by inhabitants of Oswiecim (Auschwitz).

Myriam Gerber „Holocaust Sites as Palimpsests of Meaning and Memories: Exploring the Relationships between Memory and Visible as well as Invisible Aspects of Holocaust Sites.“

Anastasia Felcher: Challenges of Mistrust: Experience of Multidisciplinary Fieldwork on Jewish Heritage in post-1991 Eastern Europe.

16.00-19.00

Difficult Heritage of Vilnius. A walking tour with Mr. Ilya Lempertas.

Dinner in the Old Town

 

Wednesday, August 3, Vilnius-Medininkai

 

09:00-12:00

Introduction Session. Part Two, location: Jewish Library

Panel 3. Memory and Boundary:

Volha Tsadko: Moroch: Western and Soviet. Life of the Village on the Soviet-Polish Border’s Opposite Sides.

Tacciana Kasataya: Local Research and Historical Memory (the Case of Hrodna)

Panel 4. Memory and Politics: Anastasiya Astapova: Political Rumors in Contemporary Belarus: The Folklorist’s Perspective.

Valius Venckunas: The Role of Incompatible Historical Narratives in Lithuanian – Belarusian Relations.

Panel 5. Embodied Memory: Uladzimir Valodzin: Soviet Homosexual as an Object of Study for Criminalistics, Forensic Medicine and Sexopathology.

Oleksiy Salivon: Body Experiences of the Jewish Soldiers in German and Austrian Empires and in Russia in 1815-1918.

12:00-13:00 Lunch

Transfer: Vilnius-Medininkai (33 km), check-in at the Borderguards’ School

Visit to the Border-guards’ post in Medininkai and the memorial to the Medininkai-massacre.

 

Thursday, August 4, Medininkai

Morning:

10:00-12:00 Introduction into the history of Medininkai by Mindaugas Kelpsa (Vilnius University) and a tour of the castle (former NKVD POW camp).

Lunch

 14:00 – 18:00 Introduction of the teaching staff and their workshops.

Magdalena Waligorska (University of Bremen) “Interviewing as a Method: Strategies, Tools and Challenges”

Soliman Lawrence (Art Academy Berlin) “Artistic Strategies for Memory Work”

Etta Grotrian (online exhibition specialist at Jewish Museum Berlin) “Digital History and Memory: Best Practices, Challenges and Benefits”

Film Evening

 

Friday, August 5. Medininkai

Morning Talks:

  1. Artistic Strategies in Photography (Soliman Lawrence)
  2. Difficult Interviewing (Magdalena Waligorska)
  3. Digital History and Memory: Tools, Forms, Narratives, Sources, Networking (Etta Grotrian)

 Afternoon Hands-on Workshops in Groups:

  1. Artistic Strategies in Dealing with Witnesses (workshop by Soliman Lawrence)
  2. Looking for Interview Partners (Magdalena Waligorska)
  3. Practicing Digital Publishing (coordinated by Etta Grotrian)

Evening:

Feedback from the field research. Discussion of the results in the forum. Preparation of the digital output and online project documentation and the curatorial intervention at the former POW camp.

 

Saturday, August 6. Medininkai

 Morning Talks:

  1. Artistic Site Interventions (Soliman Lawrence)
  2. Legal and Ethical Issues around Oral History (Magdalena Waligorska)
  3. Producing Digital Media: Audio, Video, Images, Text, HTML/CSS (Etta Grotrian)

Afternoon:

Hands-on Workshops in Groups

Evening:

Curatorial intervention at the former POW camp.

Sunday, August 7. Medininkai-Ashmiany-Halshany

 

Morning:

8:00 Transfer from Medininkai to Halshany (47 km)

Crossing the Lithuanian-Belarusian border.

Noon:

Visit to the shtetl of Ashmiany on the way: local history museum, synagogue, Jewish cemetery. Guide: Dr. Stsiapan Stureika. Lunch in Ashmiany.

15:00 Departure for Halshany

Circa 15:30 check in at the hostel in Halshany

Afternoon Talk:

Ilay Halpern: Introduction into the Jewish Life of Halshany: The Yizkor Book of Halshany.

19:00 Dinner at the local Cafe

 Film Evening: Yahor Surski: Autum 1939: On the Border of Memory (Q & A with the director)

 

Monday, August 8. Halshany

 

Morning:

A walking tour of Halshany: Orthodox, Catholic and Jewish cemetery, Orthodox church. Guide: Dr. Stsiapan Stureika.

Visit to the local history museum in Halshany. Meeting with the local historian Ihar Kastsiukevich.

Lunch

Afternoon Talks:

Workshops:

  1. Artistic Strategies in Photography (Soliman Lawrence)
  2. Understanding post-WWII Belarus via oral history: trauma, population shifts, Sovietization and repression. (Iryna Kashtalian)
  3. Film Workshop: Video Recording of Oral History: Ethical Issues (Yahor Surski, film director Minsk)
  4. Introduction into Digital Ethnography (Mindaugas Kelpsa)

 

Tuesday, August 9, Halshany

Morning Hands-on Workshops in Groups

  1. Artistic Strategies in Dealing with Witnesses (Soliman Lawrence)
  2. Dos and Don’ts of the Interviewer: Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. (Iryna Kashtalian)
  3. Film Workshop: Recording Oral History: Technical Issues (Yahur Surski)
  4. Using Digital Media for Research Documentation (Mindaugas Kelpsa)

Afternoon:

 Feedback from the field research. Discussion of the results in the forum. Preparation of the digital output and online project documentation.

Evening Film

 

Wednesday, August 10. Halshany

Morning Talks:

  • Artistic Site Interventions (Soliman Lawrence)
  • Researching Jewish Past in Belarus via Oral History. (Iryna Kashtalian)
  • Film Workshop: Psychological Issues (Yahur Surski)
  • Fostering Community Involvement through Social Media (Mindaugas Kelpsa)

Afternoon:

Hands-on Workshops in Groups

Evening: Curatorial intervention in Halshany.

 

Thursday, August 11. Halshany-Minsk

Morning:

9:00 Departure for Minsk, a stopover at the castle of Kreva

11:00 Check in at the hotel IBB Prospekt Gazety Pravda 11

12:00-14.00 lunch

Afternoon:

 

15:00-17:00 Visit to History Workshop Minsk and a walk through the former ghetto of Minsk, visit to the Jama memorial. Guide: Antonina Chumakova. Final Discussion.

 

Friday, August 12. Minsk

 

10:00-12:00 Visit to the IIWW Museum with Dr. Stsiapan Stureika

Lunch in the city centre

15:00-17:00 Visit to Kurapaty, Guide: Dr. Aliaksei Lastouski