The book examines the relation between art created during the so-called Revolution of
Dignity-Maidan Events (November 21 2013 - February 23 2014 Ukraine) and the mission of the
Maidan Museum (Kyiv Ukraine) born from the ashes of Euromaidan to preserve the 'Spirit of
Maidan'. The Maidan events defined as the Maidanization process produced a post-colonial
discourse language a new apolitical ideology based on the concepts of dignity and
Ukrainianness generated symbols social myths and collective imaginary triggered the 'Spirit
of Maidan' that changed the consciousness of the participants in the demonstrations and
functioned as a ritual of intensification-aggregation-initiation passage in which the identity
of new Ukraine was shaped. In this transformative process in which the human being is seen as
an 'animal identitarium' struggling defending and fighting for his her own identity artists
played a crucial role in assembling the main elements of the post-Maidan Ukrainian identity
(homo Maidan) were able to empower the whole movement with concrete ideas and finally
reworked objects symbols and music already present in the Ukrainian DNA through a process of
meaningization symbolization mythization canonization sacralization and interpellation.
This volume is based on interviews with artists who dramatically participated in the Maidan
events and fieldwork at the Maidan Museum and unfolds and identifies the main elements
emotions expectations and motivations of the relation of art creation and Ukrainian
post-Maidan identity formation based on the 'Spirit of Maidan'.This book gives voice and place
to the memories and identities-crafting processes in course since the Maidan revolution
projecting itself in the current war context. A must-read.-Maria Raquel Freire Professor of
International Relations University of Coimbra PortugalIn one word only I can summarize The
Maidan Museum: Preserving the Spirit of Maidan by Giovanni Ercolani as brilliant.-Nilüfer Narli
Professor of Political Sociology Bahcesehir University Istanbul TurkeyThis intriguing study
by Giovanni Ercolani with sometimes unexpected conclusions is a deep immersion-emotional and
scientific-into the labyrinths of Ukrainian archetypes and symbols historical memory and
cultural identity. The book will help its readers to look behind the scenes of the heritage war
that Russia wages against Ukraine and to better understand the unfairly forgotten nation in
the heart of Europe which has currently activated the transformation processes of the whole
world.-Ihor Poshyvailo PhD in History General Director of the Maidan Museum UkraineThis book
is a fundamental contribution to thinking about the relationship between social revolution and
contemporary cultural policies.-Tomas Peters Assistant Professor of Sociology of Arts
University of ChileThe book is an incisive and insightful interdisciplinary study meticulously
unraveling a tangled nexus of identities art and social practices. It's a must-read for
anyone interested in Ukrainian-and European!-history politics and cultural production.-Igor
Torbakov Professor of History University of Uppsala Sweden
