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Paper Short Abstract:

Since the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukrainian architectural heritage has faced destruction, prompting re-valorisation of Soviet-era objects. This report explores NGO practices in managing dissonant heritage, focusing on Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia.

Paper Abstract:

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, Ukrainian architectural heritage has suffered extensive damage due to relentless shelling by the Russian army. At the same time, it caused the re-valorisation of the Soviet architectural heritage, stimulating the decolonisation processes in the urban space of Ukrainian cities. The analysis focuses on the socialist cities of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia.

While being the significant urban achievements of the interwar period and the representation of the forced modernisation of the Soviet Union, these settlements dealt not only with the challenges of war destruction but with the deindustrialisation processes. In my report, I would like to analyse the role of the NGOs, which deal with the dissonant heritage, from the preliminary observations we can already see, that it is the whole spectrum of practices, beginning from the demolition of communist objects and followed by the preservation initiatives.

So, the research questions are as follows: Which practices are used by the local activists? Are their actions and appeals to municipalities being acknowledged or implemented? Which narratives about the dissonant heritage are they spreading? How are decisions made, and by whom, to determine which heritage objects are worth preserving? This study draws on interviews with activists collected by researchers from V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University and analyzes social media representations of community reactions. Additionally, I will incorporate autoethnography from my experience as a member of the NGO Art-oborona.