Abstract:
The article discusses the use and perception of images of state violence in a museum space. It tells the story of an unusual trial against a group of believers, arrested in 1952 in Ukraine and charged as members of the “ecclesiastic-monarchist underground organization” the True Orthodox Church. Images from the group penal file (preserved nowadays at the Archives of the Ukrainian Security Service in Kiev) were displayed at the exhibition held in 2019 at the Museum of Art in Cluj-Napoca. Visitors were invited to look at two sets of photographs: originals and spruced-up copies, both produced by secret police officers. Through the reconstruction of the story of the people on trial, we discuss the role of images of state violence and religious repression in triggering the mechanisms of historical memory. How can we transform recent traumatic past into historical and cultural legacy, while preventing it against unhealthy manipulations? What are the attributes and limits of showing? Suggesting a “thick description” approach towards archival reading and the reconstruction of microhistories we discuss how the images of the “difficult” past can generate different narratives and how they can heal wounds rather than make new ones.
