Transformation of Post-Soviet Public Space after the Revolution. Musealization, Iconoclasm and Contested Historical Heritage in Lithuania

Project idea

This interdisciplinary research investigates the transformation of public space in post-communist Lithuania, with comparative analyses from Central European and Baltic states, focus on the treatment of socialist-era monuments following the 1989 and 1990 revolutions. The project explores two apparently contradictory phenomena, musealization and iconoclasm, as responses to the revolution and the burden question what to do with contested historical heritage. The focal point of the project is the conceptual development of an unconventional memory institution typology, the museum-park. These sites function as repositories where monuments of the former political order are collected, preserved, and critically contextualized. The research specifically examines Grūtas Park as a case study, analyzing both the iconoclastic impulses that led to monument removal and the processes of creating this specialized heritage site. The objective of this project is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the cultural, political, and societal transformations that shape phenomena such as musealization and iconoclasm, and to demonstrate how these two processes interact in the creation of a museum park.