Dr. Gal Kirn

I am from Ljubljana (Slovenia) and I am currently affiliated with the European University of Viadrina (Faculty of Cultural Studies) where I work on Cultural Sociology and Memory Studies.
In my research project “Between Decolonisation and Postsocialism: (Re)Visions of Memory” I will contextualise and compare important differences and similarities of monumental iconoclasm and alternative dealing with monumental legacy and landscapes in the period after 1989. Monuments have often been (ab)used in memory wars, at times they even became key figures that signaled transition of economic, political, and ideological power leading to democratic and also to authoritarian directions. The PNB fellowship will allow me to explore relationality of memory in a broader context of social changes, and it will give me the time and freedom to think about new projects. In this respect my personal goal is to either develop a new professorship or lead a research group that will offer a transdisciplinary perspective on the issues of transformation.