Representatives of the Donetsk Regional Museum of Local History took part in the three-day symposium ‘The Most Documented War: A Polyphony of Narratives’, held in Lviv.
The event was dedicated to recording wartime experiences, archiving testimonies, memory policies and the challenges of working with traumatic memories.
The programme included panel discussions featuring Ukrainian and international historians, researchers, archivists, documentary filmmakers, journalists and human rights activists. The focus was on people and their stories as the foundation for preserving the memory of the war. Experts discussed the specifics of recording war testimonies, life under occupation and forced displacement, working with the families of the deceased, as well as the ethical challenges of interviewing, the risks of retraumatisation, and the responsibilities of researchers and documentary filmmakers. Particular attention was paid to competing narratives in border regions and the role of archives in the processes of justice and the restoration of historical justice.
Kateryna Zelenska, Head of the Department of Contemporary History at the Donetsk Regional Local History Museum, took part in the practical training session ‘How to find and tell stories using digital archives: an example of working with users of the War Archive’. During the training, participants familiarised themselves with the principles of preserving materials, levels of access to data, information security issues, and practical tools for searching for sources in the Digital War Archive.
Participation in the event provided a valuable opportunity for professional development, exchanging experiences with colleagues from Ukraine and abroad, and deepening knowledge of modern approaches to documenting Ukraine’s War of Independence and preserving evidence of it for future generations.