ABSTRACT
Left alone, monuments unveiled as shiny individual works gradually merge into the monumentscape. Developing a patina or gathering dust or moss, they become part of the backdrop to our everyday activities, receding into the invisibility that Robert Musil claimed defines them. Constituting a natural kind of heritage protection, this shields them from outside intervention: a monument that remains invisible does not bother anyone. Both the Russian invaders and Ukrainian iconoclasts fought this invisibility. The latter did so by redirecting attention to symbolic elements of war memorials that people had long ceased to be aware of, and reframing them as offensive. The former literally and metaphorically sandpapered and repainted memorials, stripping them of the historical patina that had inscribed them into the local landscape.
