Dr. Piotr Popławski is the head of the Educational and Cultural Projects Department
at the Sybir Memorial Museum. In addition to managing educational and cultural projects, he also coordinates multimedia work and serves as the content manager for the museum's permanent exhibition.
The Sybir Memorial Museum, which opened in September 2021, is the result
of collaborative efforts between a generation of Sybiraks and their grandchildren. Together, they share the story of prisoners of war, exiles, and deportees who, from the end
of the 16th century until the middle of the 20th century, were enslaved and sent deep
into Russia and later the Soviet Union, as well as those who went there voluntarily.
The museum also explores the experiences of those who were settled in Siberia before World War I and actively participated in the development of its vast regions. This place blends historical research and narratives with the memories of participants and witnesses of the events. The museum showcases seemingly ordinary objects that conceal profound emotions, offering visitors a glimpse of an extraordinary land: Siberia — mysterious, beautiful and, at the same time, harsh and unforgiving.
The memorial employs various new technological tools to educate about deportation, exile, trauma, and death. These tools include VR goggles used with younger audiences during workshops, interactive elements like multimedia kiosks, an oral history zone in the main exhibition where visitors can listen to testimonies, tablets, audio guides available in eleven languages, and a project known as the 'silent disco.'
We live in an era dominated by visual culture in museums as well as in our everyday lives through social media, television, and more. That's why the museum decided to explore another sense: hearing, and to focus on oral history. In their collections, there are many simple items that may not immediately pique a visitor’s interest or make sense. However,
as soon as you share the incredible story behind the document or object, it suddenly gains significance, and visitors begin to look at it in an entirely different light. Of course,
the memorial also organizes meetings with Sybiraks, witnesses of that time period.
The impact of a testimony on visitors is always more profound than any multimedia tool, but there will be fewer and fewer witnesses able to testify in the coming years. Therefore, considering the impact it had on visitors, the museum began contemplating a method that would respect the way witnesses tell their stories as closely as possible. After extensive discussions and debates, a new project was born: Silent Disco. So far, two workshops have been developed, and work continues on a third one.
In the workshop ‘They Came at Dawn,’ the educator begins by asking participants what they know about Siberia and deportations in order to create a mind map of the visitor’s thoughts. The second step is the presentation of a movie, shown purposefully without sound,
to deconstruct the thought process. On one hand, it may feel like something is missing,
but it allows participants to understand, for example, how challenging it is for people who cannot hear to receive information. By withholding sound, it also encourages them to think more about what they are seeing and analyze the situation more deeply themselves.
The next step in the workshop involves participants describing, in their own words
and with as much detail as possible, what they observed in the video.
They are then asked to empathize with people in similar situations and consider what they would have packed in a suitcase if faced with deportation. It is a small exercise, but it is essential for the museum's educators to keep students engaged in the discussion throughout the workshop. The pivotal moment in the workshop is when participants use silent disco headphones. Simultaneously, they all listen to short testimonies. Between each listening session, the group exchanges thoughts and impressions about what they have just heard. Each micro-story describes a crucial moment from the arrest to deportation to the place of detention.
The headphones are controlled remotely from a computer to ensure that the entire group goes through this listening experience at the same time and that participants cannot interfere with the device. This is a very engaging listening experience, with short testimonies to keep students from losing interest, lasting about fifteen minutes in total. The advantage of using headphones instead of playing a recording on speakers in the classroom is that it feels more intimate. Students have the impression that they are being personally addressed, and it prevents them from chatting with classmates as they are in their own bubble. The last part of the workshop aims to draw attention to the similarities between the testimonies that they heard and those from different conflicts. This time, students read short transcripts and compare what happened to the victims of these other conflicts.
The second workshop focuses on the fate of Jews in Białystok. The museum is situated on the former ghetto grounds. The silent disco exercise is also incorporated into this workshop, but in general, the use of multimedia tools in their activities represents about one-third or one-fifth of the entire session. Also heavily emphasized are analog activities to maintain diversity and interactivity. The museum has observed that the workshops stimulate interest in the stories of students' own parents and grandparents after experiencing these activities with the museum, fostering dialogue.