author:
Yuliia Pishchanska (https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1651-4028)
Relevance of the research topic stems from the search for new forms of museum representation capable of conveying an experience that borders on the ‘ineffable’. Occupation not only alters socio-political conditions of existence but also transforms the fundamental structures of human existence. The lived experience of occupation cannot be reduced to factual descriptions of events or the display of material evidence, as it encompasses existential experiences of fear, loss, violence, resistance and survival, which do not always lend themselves to direct objectification.
Problem statement. This study focuses on how museum representation can transform the ‘object of occupation’ back into the ‘subject of history’. The author invites the reader to reflect on the boundaries of humanity, the ethics of witnessing another’s pain, and the role of museum space as a place where memory overcomes oblivion and dignity resists destruction.
Analysis of recent research and publications. The theoretical foundation of the study is based on the intersection of several academic disciplines: philosophical anthropology, memory studies, and contemporary museology. The theoretical basis for understanding the human condition in extreme circumstances (such as occupation) is provided by the works of M. Heidegger, M. Merleau-Ponty, P. Ricoeur and K. Jaspers; in particular, the concept of the ‘limit situation’ is key to describing the experience of lack of freedom.
Research task. The aim of this article is to explore the philosophical and anthropological foundations of representing the experience of occupation in the contemporary museum space, and to identify the mechanisms by which individual trauma is transformed into a socially significant narrative.
Main material presentation. For our society, the experience of occupation is not merely a historical fact, but a living reality, which presents the humanities with the task not only of documenting events, but also of deeply reflecting on the experience of occupation as a complex, multi-layered process of transforming individual experience into collective memory. In contemporary Ukrainian exhibitions (for example, the ‘Ukraine – Crucifixion’ project), this is conveyed through the recreation of cramped cellars. Here, the individual is deprived of privacy, light and normal physical activity. The anthropological reduction of the world to the dimensions of a concrete box is a key image that the museum conveys to the visitor. Exhibitions featuring instruments of torture or medical supplies for use in extreme conditions highlight the fragility of the human body. This compels the visitor to feel a sense of physical solidarity with the victim
Conclusions. Thus, the museum representation of the experience of war and occupation is a complex, multidimensional process in which anthropological, cultural-existential and ethical dimensions of the transformation of individual traumatic experience into forms of collective memory are combined, ensuring the meaningfulness of human existence in the horrific conditions of survival.
Key words: human beings, war, occupation, museum representation, cultural memory, trauma, existential experience, philosophical anthropology.
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