The Face of Resistance: the Communist Past as an Exhibition Project. The case of the Resisters Exhibition
The Face of Resistance: the Communist Past as an Exhibition Project. The case of the Resisters Exhibition

Summary/Abstract: My paper analyzes how, through its chosen 30 case studies of personalities that opposed the communist regime in Romania, the exhibition The Resisters contributes to the criminalization of the recent past in the Romanian collective memory. To this end, I have divided my study into three main parts. The first one traces from a chronological perspective the initiatives meant to force the communist repression into public remembrance. The second part details the creation and transformation of The Resisters from an NGO project into a national exhibition opened to mark the passing of 30 years since the fall of communism in Romania. In the last section, I have divided the resisters into five categories depending on the nature of their opposition to the communist regime. These categories include everyday resistance, armed resistance, cultural resistance, religious resistance, and resistance in political field. Using visual analysis I underline how each portrait of the resisters and story behind is a contribution to the criminalization of communist past in the Romanians’ collective memory.

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