Episode 99: Transforming the fascist past. The case of Bolzano’s bas-relief

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Episode 99 of the podcast explores how the research and local community from Bolzano in northern Italy managed to successfully reframe the post-fascist historical site located in this South Tyrolean, multi-ethnic city. The story gives an opportunity to reflect on how collective memory can be dealt with. It also allows us to ponder to what extent the experience of totalitarianism in Central and Eastern Europe shares similarities with Western European cases.

Our guest is Hannes Obermair, a Senior researcher from Eurac Research, an independent and interdisciplinary research center, based in Bolzano in SouthTyrol.

This podcast is a joint effort of Talk Eastern Europe, the Memory Studies Association and EuroClio: the European Association of History Educators within the framework of the project titled “Contested Histories Onsite”, a project which aims to place Europeans in discussions and debates on multiple historical perspectives and to activate citizens in public involvement of memory-constructions. As part of the EU’s Europe for Citizens programme, the project’s aspiration is rooted in a shared conviction that raising critical questions about the past is fundamental for citizens to develop a critical attitude towards the narratives that are competing with each other in contemporary politics.

For more information on the project visit:
-Contested Histories Onsite: https://contestedhistories.org/onsite/
-Memory Studies Association: https://www.memorystudiesassociation.org/contested-histories-onsite/
-EuroClio: https://www.euroclio.eu/project/contested-histories/

Sources:
Mussolini bas-relief, Bolzano, Italy. Case Study #84, Contested Histories
https://contestedhistories.org/wp-content/uploads/Italy_-Mussolini-Bas-Relief-in-Bolzano.pdf

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Why Are So Many Fascist Monuments Still Standing in Italy?
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/why-are-so-many-fascist-monuments-still-standing-in-italy

Hannes Obermair, Monuments and the City – an almost inextricable entanglement
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324834568_Monuments_and_the_City_-_an_almost_inextricable_entanglement

Andrea Carlà, Johanna Mitterhofer, Transforming a Controversial Heritage: The Case of the Fascist Victory Monument in South Tyrol
https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=708645

- Previous episodes under the Contested Histories Onsite project:
Episode 77: Inside memory sites - The Warsaw Rising Museum
https://talkeasterneurope.eu/episode/episode-77-inside-memory-sites-the-warsaw-rising-museum-699
- Episode 85: Estonia grapples with its Soviet past