ICIP - Representations and experiences of communities involved in war conflicts in heritage spaces of memory

Heritage spaces linked to historical memory are places dedicated to disseminating the history of war conflicts, while transmitting democratic values ​​and peace. In Catalonia, the spaces related to the Spanish Civil War are grouped in the Network of Democratic Memory Spaces of Catalonia. 

Based on the idea that these spaces should encourage reflection between the past and the present, and bearing in mind that Catalonia is a society in which citizens of different countries live together, some of them involved in military conflicts, it was intended to analyze how a conflict in the recent history of the country in which these citizens live can connect with the current reality of their countries of origin. 

Specifically, the project has analysed the representations and experiences of the Russian and Ukrainian communities living in Catalonia based on visits to a space of memory linked to the Spanish Civil War: the battle front of El Merengue (Camarasa). In this sense, the role of heritage in the linking of past and present conflicts, in the inclusion in the host society and in the reflection around the construction of peace, has become evident. 

Likewise, the importance of the use of narratives and objects as mediation strategies to generate emotions and empathy in the participants has been made clear.