Periodic Reporting for period 3 - Hidden Galleries (Creative Agency and Religious Minorities: ‘hidden galleries’ in the secret police archives in 20th Century Central and Eastern Europe)
Berichtszeitraum: 2019-09-01 bis 2021-03-31
As part of this first phase, the project also ran an academic workshop hosted by the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security (ÁBTL), in Budapest on 11th September 2017 entitled Materialisng Religion in the Secret Police Archives: Methodological, Ethical and Legal approaches to the Study of Religions in Secret Police Archives. In addition to the project team, there were a number of additional invited speakers from Ukraine, Lithuania, Hungary, Serbia and Romania as well as members of the Research Department of ÁBTL. Full programme can be found on the project website: http://hiddengalleries.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Budapest-Workshop-Programme-A4-Final-.pdf. An Edited Volume based on papers presented at the workshop which addresses the complex history of the relationship between the secret police and minority religious communities in Central and Eastern Europe as well as exploring the methodological, ethical and legal perspectives that shape scholarly use of the archives today is currently in preparation. In addition, the first Single-authored article by the Principal Investigator, Dr James Kapaló, exploring the methodology of the project has been peer-reviewed and accepted by the journal Material Religion and will appear in Volume 15 (2019) of the journal.
Following on from the archival work, ethnographic fieldwork with individuals and communities represented in the archives began in October 2017 in Hungary and June 2018 in Romania and Moldova. Making contact with, interviewing, reintroducing confiscated materials and negotiating participation in the project with religious groups constitutes the most challenging, sensitive and potentially impactful aspect of the project. The research team has so far succeeded in securing the cooperation or participation of six communities (two in Hungary, three in Romania and one in Moldova). Several members of these communities have indicated their intention to participate in events associated with them and to contribute to the public exhibitions which will be staged in the final year of the project. A number of others have been interviewed and are happy for their voices to form part of the public aspects of the project outputs. Having secured this vital cooperation and participation, the public exhibitions will include the narratives, performances and visual creative practices of the various groups.
The project team has presented the methodology of the project, case studies and findings at six international conferences in Hungary, Romania, UK, Belgium and Italy. In addition the project Principal Investigator, Dr James Kapaló, has given guest lectures in Edinburgh, Amsterdam and Budapest.
The project events have also included scholars in Serbia and Lithuania and there are planned collaborations with Croatia and Slovenia. These additional collaborations will enable the project to expand its geographical reach and comparative potential.