OPEN CALL: Interdisciplinary MemoryLab "Between Memory and Stone” - Instytut Pileckiego

OPEN CALL: Interdisciplinary MemoryLab "Between Memory and Stone”

Application Deadline: 22 August 2026 Location: Pilecki Institute Berlin, Pariser Platz 4A Dates: 21-26 September Language of residency: English

About the Project

"Between Memory and Stone" is a one-week international academy bringing together researchers, curators, educators, and civil society practitioners from Poland, Ukraine, and Germany to explore how our societies confront, reinterpret, and transform the Soviet legacy that continues to shape public space and collective memory.

In times when historical narratives are weaponized through disinformation and nostalgia for totalitarianism, the academy will provide a space to rethink how public history can strengthen democratic resilience and cultivate pluralistic, value-based remembrance cultures across borders.

The initiative creates an intellectual and creative laboratory of public history, where participants co-develop new ways to engage with difficult heritage and translate academic reflection into participatory civic practices.

Program curators: Eva Yakubovska, Kateryna Semenyuk and Prof. Dr. Oksana Dovgopolova, Prof. Dr. Andrii Portnov. 

Programme The five-day HistoryLab will bring together 15 participants from Germany, Poland, and Ukraine (5 from each country) and will include:

• Workshops and lectures
• Facilitation and discussion sessions
• Curatorial sessions and guidance for developing project ideas of participants for StoryMap
• Work on your research piece on local memory through the lens of social responsibility

Topics addressed:

• Comparative approaches to the Soviet legacy in Germany, Poland, and Ukraine
• Memory politics and public history as tools for democratic education
• Artistic and civic interventions in post-totalitarian spaces

Outcomes

• A digital StoryMap - a publicly accessible online platform presenting research findings and HistoryLab outcomes (launch November 2026). Participants will have an opportunity to publish their project ideas and findings to the StoryMap platform. 
• A printed publication of StoryMap (launch November 2026)
• Possibility of presenting outcomes at an international conference in Berlin (October 2026) 

Who Can Apply We welcome applications from professionals based in Poland, Ukraine, or Germany, who can represent these countries' experience working in the fields of:

• History, Memory Studies, Civil Society, Arts, Journalism, Philosophy, Cultural Studies, Political Science, Anthropology, Design, Architecture — and anyone who engages with memory, heritage, and public space.
• Candidates are required to have at least a communicative knowledge of English.
• Candidates should be at least 18 years old.

How to Apply To apply, please complete the application form via this Google Form

Your application should include the following documents:

1. Outline of a concept or Project idea/ project design — a description of your proposed contribution exploring how to confront, reinterpret, or transform the Soviet legacy and collective memory. 
2. CV or Portfolio
3. Motivation letter
4. All the above documents should be submitted in English
5. We reserve the right to contact selected candidates for the purpose of conducting additional on-line interviews.

Selection process Participants will be selected through an open call procedure, with a maximum of 15 people (5 from Germany, 5 from Ukraine, and 5 from Poland).  

Our offer includes:

• participation in the lectures, seminars, workshops, and facilitation sessions of the HistoryLab “Between memory and stone” 
• expenses for traveling will be refunded upon arrival up to 200 Euros (round trip) 
• expenses for accommodation, and catering (breakfast and lunch) in Berlin are covered in full;
• city travel expenses are fully covered
• small one-time bonus of 200 Euros for each participant
• presentation of your research or artistic project, texts, etc., elaborated or expanded on during the program in the StoryMap website and printed publication. 

Additional Information  - Application documents will be accepted in English only; - Successful candidates undertake to attend the full program in September 2026 - Courses, lectures, and workshops will be held in English; - If you have any questions, please feel free to contact: opencall@vitsche.org - The results of the selection process will be announced at the beginning of September 2026. - The list of selected participants will be published:

• on the website and social media of Vitsche e.V https://vitsche.org/
• on the website of the Pilecki Institute https://berlin.instytutpileckiego.pl/de 
• on social media of Past/Future Art

- The organizers are not under any obligation to substantiate the decisions of the enrolment committee. No appeal procedure has been provided. - For candidates selected to participate in the project, the present document will constitute an attachment to the agreement concluded between any such candidate and Vitsche e.V.

Organiser: Vitsche e.V Berlin-based NGO working at the intersection of civil society, culture, and political education.

Partners: Past / Future / Art – Memory Culture Platform. Ukrainian initiative connecting research, art, and public debate on memory culture in Eastern Europe. Pilecki Institute. One of Poland's leading research institutions dedicated to the study of totalitarian regimes and historical memory.

Alignment with ÖPR Programme 2026 

The project directly contributes to the programme’s core objectives by promoting discussion of values and human rights through shared reflection on totalitarian pasts.  – Strengthening pluralism and resilience in the face of disinformation and manipulation of history.  – Supporting European integration through trilateral civil-society cooperation.

Project funded by Auswärtiges Amt