Difficult Heritage of Ukraine: Navigating the Complexity of Narratives, Practices, and Challenges of War

Historian and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the Kharkiv School of Architecture Dr. Iryna Matsevko will deliver “Difficult Heritage of Ukraine: Navigating the Complexity of Narratives, Practices, and Challenges of War” at the Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies in Hagerty Hall on March 25.

“War can destroy cultural heritage twice — in conflict and in clean-up.” The conservation, reconstruction, or clearance of ruins is based on decisions arising from a consensus among local communities and the state regarding their heritage. This involves considering what they want to remember and what they prefer to forget. The lecture will explore two heritage discourses — multicultural and Soviet — and how the war influences the rethinking of a complex and dissonant heritage of Ukraine.

Dr. Iryna Matsevko is a historian and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the Kharkiv School of Architecture, which was evacuated from Kharkiv to Lviv, Ukraine, in March 2022. As a teacher, she designs courses on the cultural and social contexts of architecture, heritage studies and urban practices. Her academic interests include the social and cultural history of Soviet Ukraine, urban history, and urban heritage and practices as a resource for sustainability in cities and communities. Matsevko’s practical experience includes the development and management of public history projects on contested memories and inclusive approaches in heritage practices. Her projects focus on intangible urban heritage in Ukraine, the implementation of heritage practice, and the guiding principles for cultural heritage interpretation and management. She was a team member of the Synagogue Space Commemorative Project in Lviv, Ukraine; co-leader and coordinator of the three-year project “ReHERIT: Common Responsibility for Shared Heritage” in Lviv and Uman, Ukraine; designer of the methodology and content for contested heritage city walks for guides in Lviv and Uman; project leader for marking ten sites of multicultural heritage in Uman public space; and editor and a co-author of “Uman. (Un)known Stories of the City”, a collection of texts about Uman’s past, memory, and heritage. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Iryna Matsevko has focused on analyzing approaches and discussions about Soviet heritage and how the war is changing the heritage discourse in Ukraine.

Matsevko and Oleg Drozdov (co-founder and president of the Kharkiv School of Architecture) will deliver the Baumer Lecture on March 27.