‘For Freedom – Ours and Yours’ is a phrase coined by the 19th-century Polish independence activist Joachim Lelewel during the November Uprising against the Russian invader in 1830–31, one of the prime Polish independence uprisings. It has entered the repertoire of Polish cultural memory, becoming one of the most inclusive national mottoes during the darkest periods of Polish history in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Aspirations for independence and accompanying freedom slogans also played a similar role in the history of the countries of Europe (and beyond) throughout the 20th century, which was marked by two world wars, various civil wars, Nazism and the Holocaust, fascism, communism as well as authoritarianism.
What does freedom mean today and what did it mean throughout the historical period discussed above? How did both the struggle for freedom and its celebration become enshrined in the region’s cultural and historical memory? How has freedom been commemorated in museum narratives and how is it commemorated today? These questions are among the key ones running through this year’s European Remembrance Symposium.
Starting from philosophical perspective that defines freedom not only by its absence and efforts to regain it (freedom from enslavement, persecution, occupation, etc.), but also by social agency and responsibility (freedom of choice, assembly, freedom of speech, religion, human rights, minority rights, etc.), we will look at various narratives within the broader memory of freedom in selected museums of Europe and the world.
The participants of the symposium will examine the spaces of the newest and most popular historical museums. For decades they played a special role in the creation of historical and cultural memory of different generations as sites for generating particularly evocative images and narratives about the past, spaces for displaying a variety of memory mediums, places for mediating (national and cross-national) historical policies, and as institutions that engage visitors in co-creation of narratives about the past (participatory museums).
Taking into account the dynamically changing technologies and increasingly advanced tools for visualising the past, so crucial to popularising history and the educational process, during the planned discussions we will also explore both the enormous opportunities and as well as the threats introduced by the highly appealing tools of engagement used in education and museum presentations, including AI, VR and immersive media, among others.
Venue: Polish History Museum, Warsaw
Dates: 21 — 24 May 2024
