The Exhibition 'Tales from the Trenches. The Bulgarian Trench Art': Models and Mechanisms of Memory

• In Event: Cold Memories, Hot Memories: Constructing Memory Culture in Post-Communist Bulgaria

Abstract

The distinction between the global communities as “hot” and “cold” (following Levi-Strauss's famous typology) defines the mentality of the specific society towards history. In the context of totalitarian and post-totalitarian societies we can observe the transition between “cold” to “hot” types of memory since the totalitarian societies exploit history selectively as a mechanism for governance and manipulation. The analysis of the worldwide phenomenon called “Trench Art” could be also positioned within the framework of the historical memory and its alternative rationalization as “cold” or “hot”. In Europe, between the 1980s and 2020s, the mindset towards the Trench Art could be viewed more as a “cold”, rather than a “hot” memory. Trench Art is not in the focus since after their ending, the two World Wars are interpreted mainly in the context of the political peaks and falls as tactical, strategic and political models of military events.

Anthropocentrism, so extrinsic to war, has become a new tendency in historical research since the end of the 20th century and a new lens for interpreting Trench Art as a phenomenon. In this context, the Trench Art artefacts could be examined not only as objects of memory; they can also reveal the commemorative processes of contemporary society. The exhibition “Tales from the Trenches. The Bulgarian Trench Art” and the following research work on the topic illustrate the process of revitalization of the Trench Art tradition as a form of cultural memory.

Author

• Desislava Tiholova, Rousse Regional Museum of History (Bulgaria)