Mārciena – between Legacy and Nostalgia

Boldāne-Zeļenkova, Ilze

doi:10.7592/fejf2017.70.boldane_zelenkova

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 3 publications

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“…terminem rozumiem za tony Bennettem [1] cały 'kompleks wystawienniczy' [10], którego korzenie sięgają przełomu XIX i XX wieku. muzea rozwijające się w okresie modernizmu dzięki przekształceniom kolekcji prywatnych 2 . Jak zauważył Jeremy Braddock kolekcjonowanie stało się praktyką modernistyczną [4], a zestawienia obiektów miały znaczenie dla danego okresu, jednak w przestrzeni muzealnej, a później w wystawienniczej, pojawiały się postacie z poza centrum, które w nowej przestrzeni 'wystawienniczej' zyskiwały miejsce dla siebie.…”

Section: M F Eunclassified

Former Soviet Military Bases from the Perspective of Thirty Years: An Ethnographic Mise-en-scene

Demski¹

2022

Nar. tvorčìst' etnol.

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The site of the former Soviet military base changed after the withdrawal of the Soviet army in 1991–1993 is discussed in the article. The analysis concerns the third former military bases in Borne Sulinowo (Poland), Milovice (Czech Republic) and the former missile bases near Gulbene (Latvia) and three fieldworks have been taken in the 2005–2020 and finished because of the coronavirus pandemic. Transformation of these places and adaptation of the old infrastructure to the new situation in cities inhabited by civilians from the “exhibitionary” position is considered. My assumption is that after the departure of Russian the key decisions on the future belonged to the local population of cities (Borne Sulinowo, Milovice). As a result of these decision, development went in different directions – various goals, direction, attitude to the difficult past, historical, geographical, political contexts – are the subject of analysis. We can observe a clash between long-term state strategies with the tactic used by individuals, including everyday practice. Comparing the activities and changes in these three localities, I pay attention to the so-called mise-en-scene, a concept named in the sphere of theater and film, but also in ethnography, understood as delineating the area. Such practices formed a separate ‘microcosm’, which later served as attraction for visitors. The juxtaposition showed that each place carried different story emerging in a different context, and thus given a specific message: a modern city opened to the future, although using its unique (both German and Soviet) military past (Borne Sulinowo), a city focused on entertainment and using extensive former military spaces like airfield, buildings (Milovice), or blurring the traces of not very distant past (Gulbene area). Each of these places struggles with its troubled and unwanted past, however over time gaining distance it is manifested in various ways (through entertainment, museums, attempts to present memory, war vehicle festival etc.).

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Section: M F Eunclassified

Former Soviet Military Bases from the Perspective of Thirty Years: An Ethnographic Mise-en-scene

Demski¹

2022

Nar. tvorčìst' etnol.

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Cold War heritage dissonance and disinheritance as a heritage alternative: the case of Soviet military remnants in the Baltic states

Krumberga,

Storm

2024

International Journal of Heritage Studies

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Former Soviet Military Bases in Poland and Latvia and the Development of Tourist Practices. Study of Selected Cases (Part 1)

Demski¹

2022

Nar. tvorčìst' etnol.

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The tourist practices those have been developed at the sites of selected former Soviet military bases in Poland (Borne Sulinowo, Kłomino, Pstrąże) and in Latvia (Skrunda‑1, Karosta in Liepāja, Daugavgrīva fortress) are considered in the submitted article. The catalogue of tourist practices presented in the text includes 1) the urban exploration movement, 2) creating new paths and exploring on foot, 3) establishing and visiting museums and quasi-museums, 4) reality shows those include elements of performance, 5) organising and participating in events – was intended to be open and selective. It only includes the type of practices based on using material military heritage and selected episodes from history to create unique products of tourism, such as the individual character of a site in the context of its past. The focus on tourist practices has been developed in different contexts – Polish and Latvian – illustrates how the post-Soviet material military heritage is used in each of these countries to serve new functions. It also sheds some light on whether (or how) tourist practices contribute to the ‘rehabilitation’ of bases and other post-military facilities in the eyes of the public, reveals the process of negotiating meaning within and in reference to these sites, and indicates how tourist practices affect the materiality of the place. The research has shown that diverse tourist practices are developed in de-militarized zones in both Poland and Latvia; specific patterns of tourist experience are formed there, which do not have anything in common with mass tourism. In any given case, it is the materiality of the post-military space that determines the type of tourist practices developing there. In the context of tourist practices, the material heritage of military bases is presented as something unusual and worth seeing. At the same time, however, military heritage is contemplated and experienced in a tranquil, safe environment, which makes the emerging images and experiences ‘sterilised’, and ultimately far removed from the dangers due to which these bases have been built. Thus, they are detached from their original functions and meanings. Nevertheless, the development of diverse tourist practices indicates that although the military heritage of former Soviet bases has its meaning in the present, it is still contested, ambivalent and inspiring slightly disturbing perceptions of both the past and the future.

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Mārciena – between Legacy and Nostalgia

Cited by 3 publications

References 3 publications

Former Soviet Military Bases from the Perspective of Thirty Years: An Ethnographic Mise-en-scene

Former Soviet Military Bases from the Perspective of Thirty Years: An Ethnographic Mise-en-scene

Cold War heritage dissonance and disinheritance as a heritage alternative: the case of Soviet military remnants in the Baltic states

Former Soviet Military Bases in Poland and Latvia and the Development of Tourist Practices. Study of Selected Cases (Part 1)

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