Multimedia Historical Parks and the Heritage-based “Regime of Truth” in Russia

Abstract

This article focuses on the 2013–2016 exhibitions in Moscow Manege which were later transformed into a network of entertainment centres (“historical parks”) Russia––my (hi)story. The exhibitions are built on multimedia technologies and include no authentic artefacts/museum objects. There is a growing network of such centres all over Russia, all organized in a similar manner, appealing to the visitor’s emotions and creating a relation of affect through the unravelling of a nationalistic historical narrative. Claimed to present “the objective picture of the Russian history” the exhibitions are following the recent developments in Russian cultural policies and history curricula. By analysing narratives presented at the “historical park” exhibitions, in policy documents and in media, this article follows the changes in public attitude towards history, which heritage is perceived as ‘difficult’ and ‘contested’ and how the digital representations influence these perceptions. Based on this analysis I argue that the reduction of the museum mechanism to only digital and multimedia form can bring along very serious issues in different political contexts. Russian historical parks enterprise, which combines the methods of fostering patriotism by the means of historical narrative templates both from the 19th and the 20th centuries, enhanced with the 21st-century technology in a form of “multimedia museums,” is only one of such examples.

"Not All Museums" : Memory, politics, and museum activism on the move

“…Last but not least, although the very idea of creating strictly nationstate-focused museums seems a bit outdated, it has been employed recently by the authoritarian and nationalistic regimes (cf. Zabalueva, 2022a) to mobilise patriotic feelings among the citizens. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the critical divide between "us" and "others" that is ingrained in the institutional history of museums, can contribute to further analysis of the production of (national) heritage and the processes of museum-making.…”

“…As it happened, for example, with historical exhibitions turned into propaganda devices during the 2010s in Russia(Zabalueva, 2022a).…”