Exhibiting the Post-Communist Exotic: Nostalgia, Humour, and Commodification in Kitschified Museum Exhibitions

Abstract

In the post-communist cities of Budapest, Prague, and Warsaw, privately operated museums are transforming the memory of communism into consumable experiences. This article introduces the concept of the post-communist exotic as both an analytical lens and a conceptual tool to examine how these museums render the communist past simultaneously strange and familiar for contemporary audiences. It examines how curatorial strategies utilise kitsch in the form of nostalgia, humour, and commodification to mediate historical specificity and global accessibility, thereby producing emotionally resonant and commercially legible narratives. By foregrounding the interplay between local agency, global circulations, and the imperatives of market logic, the post-communist exotic as a tool illuminates how memory in post-socialist contexts is actively constructed, circulated, and marketed. Ultimately, it offers a framework for examining the interplay of power, ideology, and affect in contemporary memory practices.