In many ways the full-scale invasion of Ukraine is focused on memory politics, with the broader aim of erasing Ukrainian culture, history and heritage. Organised by the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, this event addresses the state of cultural heritage in the Ukraine.
Working as part of a collaborative international team of archaeologists and filmmakers, during three visits from 2023–2025, Kuijt and others traveled through central and north-eastern Ukraine filming and documenting the targeted destruction of cultural heritage. This presentation provides a first-hand account of travels around Kyiv, Lukashivka, Viazivka and Chernihiv, illustrates the destruction on the ground, and discusses the importance of understanding and assessing the destruction of Ukrainian cultural heritage, both material and immaterial.
Program:
Matthias Reiter-Pázmándy (Federal Ministry for Women, Science and Research)
Welcome and Insights into Support Activities of the BMFWF in R&I and European Research
Infrastructures
Taras Fedirko (Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna)
Documenting Ukraine: Future archives as a response to present war
Ian Kuijt (University of Notre Dame, USA)
Targeting Beauty. Memory Politics, Archaeology, and the Targeting of Ukrainian Culture Heritage
Videos to be shown during the event:
Kuijt, I., W. Donaruma, and P. Shydlovskyi (2024) Targeting Beauty (8:00 min).
Kuijt, I., and W. Donaruma (2024) The Shooting Wall: Witness in Film (6:00 min).
Date: December 4, 2025, 5 p.m. CET
Location: OeAI, Otto Wagner Postsparkasse, Georg-Coch-Platz 2, Vienna, Seminar Room 5, 4th Floor
For more info: Maria.DAnna(a)oeaw.ac.at.
Targeting Beauty: Memory Politics, Archaeology, and the targeting of Ukrainian Culture Heritage
