On October 25-28 the History Camp 2022 on the topic of "Stronghold of friendship and happiness? Uncovering Soviet propaganda" took place in Yerevan.
The participants of the camp were 17 students from Armenia and Moldova, who had participated in national history competitions in 2022, carried out research projects within the general topic of “Between Rejection and Nostalgia: Soviet and Post-Soviet history in families and local communities” and won in different nominations. 1 teacher from each country also joined the camp.
The camp helped the participants to enrich their knowledge on the Soviet Union history, in particular the state propaganda and its influence on people's lives, as well as the tools to fight the propaganda.
The 4 days of the camp were quite full. The participants visited the Soviet Club (https://www.facebook.com/soviett.club ), where they got an idea of Soviet everyday life through its huge collection. In the museum of Sergey Parajanov, with the help of the ethnographer Levon Abrahamyan, they got acquainted with the life and work of the famous film director, as well as his conflicts with the Soviet authorities. The cultural anthropologist Hamlet Melkumyan made a presentation on the elements of Soviet propaganda hidden in cartoons, and the writer Armen Hayastantsi held a discussion on his essay "Silver Gates" and the specific period of Soviet history described in it.
At the end of the camp, the participants made collages on their understanding of Soviet propaganda, presenting them to each other and sharing their experiences.
The camp was implemented by DVV International, Armenian Center for Ethnological Studies “Hazarashen” NGO and Körber-Stiftung within the “History Competitions in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine 3.0” project and with the financial support of the German Federal Foreign Office.
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