Redefining “Motherland”: price vs value

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Never before have Ukrainian museums received such attention from fellow citizens as they do now. Thus, domestic institutions have already been reported in the foreign media in the context of catastrophic looting and destruction since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine. But can you imagine the same lively discussion of the causes and consequences of the theft of the same Scythian gold collections from Melitopol, as we passionately discuss the feasibility of financing the completion of the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide or the change of the coat of arms of the USSR to a trident on the shield of the “Motherland”? Hardly. The price of the issue of replacing the coat of arms of 28 million donor funds has been discussed a lot, so let’s analyze the value of the monument and the process of its redefinition in the context of the activities of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War. Lycbez Redefinition as a process of conceptual analysis of the previous, almost half a century of activity of the War Museum, its role in the life of the capital and Ukraine as a whole, as well as the socio-cultural context of its work to determine further development vectors was started relatively long ago. Since 2015, in accordance with the law on decommunization, the institution received its current name, de jure ceasing to be the “Memorial Complex “National Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945”. The coat of arms was replaced on the “Motherland” monument. Photo: National museum of the history of Ukraine in the Second World War Discussions began on rethinking the museum exposition with a change in optics – from established Soviet narratives to world trends. In particular, it was discussed the need to review and present the tragic and controversial pages of the struggle of the Ukrainian people for independence simultaneously against two totalitarian regimes – the Soviet and of the Nazi. At the same time, scientists of the War Museum began expeditionary trips to the ATO-OOS zone, which expanded the institution’s exhibition capabilities. By the Independence Day of Ukraine, the coat of arms on the shield of the Motherland was replaced. Photo: National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War Appointment in December 2021 for the results of the competition opened by the general director of the museum, historian Yury Savchuk, and the extraordinary challenges of a full-scale invasion radically accelerated the processes of redefinition of the War Museum and the “Motherland-Mother” monument. Constant expeditions to the newly de-occupied territories and active exhibition activities focused on the ongoing war demonstrated to the institution’s team and the public that the War Museum cannot continue to be limited only to the period of the Second World War and that it is appropriate to consider this historical time as one of the stages of the struggle of the people of Ukraine for independence, which began during the First World War and reached its peak in the modern defense of the right to one’s own identity in the war with the Russian aggressor. Read also: “Confident” sculpture: how it appeared in Stryi Park and what it really means numerous popular names of the monument), within a few days of the full-scale invasion, acquired a positive connotation – the figure of a steel woman with a shield and a sword began to appear widely in social networks and in public space as a symbol of resistance, indomitability and protection of the capital. Redefining the monument in memes. Photo: from open sources Redefining is not just changing the coat of arms of the USSR on the shield of the monument to the Trident, the name “Motherland-Mother” to “Ukraine-Mother”, and the name of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War to the National Museum of the War of Independence. These are fundamental changes in the concept. Redefining involves a large complex of scientific research, analytical and educational work of the museum staff and independent experts. Its purpose is not only to expand the chronological boundaries of museum activity, which would cover the century-long struggle of the people of Ukraine for Independence, to fully present the cause-and-effect relationship of modern events with the events of the 20th century. Redefining the monument in memes. Photo: Facebook Oleksandr Grekhov The purpose of the redefinition is to modernize the mission of the Museum and to define its role in the socio-cultural life of the country as a place of memory and commemoration of the future Victory in the modern conditions of the defense of Ukrainian statehood. Read also: The Soviet coat of arms was dismantled from the “Motherland” – it hung for over 40 years. PHOTO Destruction or deconstruction In the public discussion of the question of redefining the “Motherland” the price of the replacement of the coat of arms is most often discussed, and the price sometimes corresponds to the value – this is something that almost every museum curator in the world who at least once took out insurance for an item from the collection will tell you. . When it comes to the value of the monument, the deconstruction of certain common myths and a bit of trivia are long overdue. Lycbez Deconstruction is the decomposition of specific phenomena (phenomena, processes, objects, etc.) into substantive, conceptual components for further multifaceted analysis and reinterpretation in the context of modernity. One of the fundamental tasks of deconstruction is to demonstrate the dubiousness, contradiction and non-absoluteness of stereotypically generally accepted oppositions, such as “truth – lie”, “beautiful – ugly”, “Soviet – anti-Soviet”. Deconstruction is about the polyphony of meanings and the ambiguity of interpretations in our confusing and ever-changing world. Deconstructing does not mean taking it apart “in detail” and leaving it like that. That would be destruction. Deconstruction is about analysis, not destruction. About separating the grain from the chaff, and the facts from the myths, in order to then create a hierarchy of meanings that would meet the requirements of modernity, forming an updated holistic and multifaceted image. The head of the sculpture is being prepared for installation. Photo: from open sources Why shouldn’t the “Motherland-mother” monument be demolished? First, it is a recognized monument of science and technology. Secondly, it is more expensive, if we talk about the price. Thirdly, if in most civilized countries every successive political system destroyed the buildings or monuments of its predecessors, we would not have many monuments of France (with its frequency of coups) and most of Europe. In this context, it is worth mentioning the attitude of the Italians to their own architecture in 1920-30. Even if we focus purely on the examples of the period of Mussolini’s imperial ambitions, when the authorities did not allow the diversity of artistic styles as much as possible and focused on monumental buildings that would testify to its greatness, we still we will not see the post-war or modern destruction of the main monuments of this totalitarian regime. Vasyl Borodai at work. Photo: from the artist’s archive The same Fascia Houses, which were specially built to accommodate party cells, were not damaged – after the end of the Second World War, fascist symbols were removed from them, renamed and filled with completely new meanings. This is how the Mussolini Forum became the Italian Forum, as the V. Lenin Museum in Kyiv became the Ukrainian House. But this is architecture, not sculpture, you may notice! Yes, but also the “Motherland-Motherland” monument, as you know, is not just a sculpture, but a part of a complex building, which has housed the country’s largest military museum for decades. So what else is the value of the “Motherland-Motherland” monument? The monument is unique from the technical side and was significantly ahead of its time precisely in terms of engineering, because for its construction, even at a particularly accelerated pace due to the deadlines set by the CPSU and due to the shaky health of the General Secretary, architects, engineers and technicians had to constantly invent new methods and technologies, so that the sculpture was stable at such dimensions. And that it was reduced to the 36th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, because they did not have time for the previous, “round” date, and the Secretary General, who wanted to attend the opening, could not live to see the next anniversary, which, in fact, happened. Therefore, the team of engineers, designers and the rest of the technical staff had to brainstorm 24/7 to find ways to optimally assemble the monument from the most stable materials in the shortest possible time. Start of construction. 1980. Photo: Emil Panasiuk (from open sources). Photo: National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War This is an all-welded steel structure, which is the tallest in Ukraine and among the top 5 tallest in the world. The figure with a height of 68 m stands on a conical 40-meter pedestal, under which there is a precast monolithic reinforced concrete well, 12 m deep. The total height of the monument is 108 m, the weight is about 450 tons. The cladding of the sculpture (and these are 27 multi-ton blocks!) manufactured in Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, by the joint efforts of “Dniprospetsstal” and “Zaporizhstal”. Assembled in Kyiv at the plant named after Paris Commune. The Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR developed a special technology for the electrochemical processing of welds, and the Institute of Electric Welding named after E.O. Paton invented a special method of their high-quality welding. By the way, about 30 km were laid during the installation of the construction of welding seams. Kyiv engineers also developed special ventilation, power supply, and anti-icing systems for the Monument. There is a special device on the tip of the sword for damping wind load fluctuations. Rise inside the arm of the monument. Photo: Emil Panasiuk (from open sources). Photo: National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War It was Ukrainian specialists from Zaporozhye and Kyiv who ensured the technical uniqueness of this building, as well as its physical stability. Therefore, it makes sense to emphasize that the redefinition of the “Motherland” monument, in the process of which the coat of arms of the USSR was dismantled and the Trident was raised, is not only a natural reaction to the challenges of wartime and the request of society, but is a kind of restoration of historical justice, which is long overdue . After all, the highest monument of Ukraine, created by Ukrainian sculptor Vasyl Boroday and a team of Ukrainian architects, engineers, technicians and steelworkers, must be comprehensively rethought in the context of modern Ukrainian culture and filled with new meanings, which are already partially formed by Ukrainian society itself. And this is only part of the big process of redefinition of the Memorial complex, the result of which will be the expansion of the chronological boundaries of the museum’s scientific and exhibition activities, the change of its name to the National Museum of the War of Independence, the renaming of the monument to “Mother Ukraine” and the creation of a new exposition based on the redefinition of its concept.

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