The temporary collection "Forms of Resistance" is dedicated to the artistic opposition against the communist regime in Bulgaria from 1944 to 1985. The exhibition highlights different forms of repression against particular artists at particular moments during the period of state socialism. It also shows the active role of some painters, as well as their forms of resistance against the dogmas of Socialist Realism and against ideological guidance. The upper time limit is the beginning of the perestroika in the Soviet Union, which marks the beginning of the final disintegration of the system of state socialism, also with regard to the political control of arts.

Digitalisation was initiated by two different parties. Ante Lešaja and Nikola Mokrović decided to digitise the collection as part of the activities of the Human Rights Archive operated by the Documenta Center for Dealing with the Past.  At the same time, unrelated to the initiative by Lešaja and Mokrović, Tomislav Medak began to digitise all Praxis editions independently. Medak's activity was a part of the project of digitisation of works in Marxology conducted since 2012. He was scanning books at the Cultural Centre MAMA (Multimedia Institute) in Zagreb as a result of a series of left-wing initiatives after the student blockade of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. After two years of coordinated and enthusiastic work by Nikola Mokrović and Tomislav Medak on digitisation, the digital archive of the collection is now available for the public at the Public Library website (www.memoryoftheworld.org)..The Archival Collection of Praxis and the Korčula Summer School in digital format includes all editions of the journal Praxis, the journal Pogledi, the documentation of the Korcula Summer School, books about Praxis and the Korčula Summer School, writings by members of the editorial staff, periodicals, press articles, photos and movie clips. The physical examples used for digitalisation came primarily from the collection gathered by Ante Lešaja.

The book "The Performance Lesson: Game Method of Inclusion in Literature" was published shortly before Sevdalina Panayotova's death on 27 September 2014. Sevdalina Panayotova was the founder of the "Spectacular Lesson" method for teaching literature through theater.The book contains a description of the "lesson-spectacle" method developed by Sevdalina Panayotova, and six scripts for dramas adapted from Bulgarian and classic word literature. Sevdalina Panayotova's reading of the literary works is unconventional: she enriched the scenes with descriptions of the time period, she used forbidden literature (works of symbolists, for example), and she directed attention to forgotten or forbidden stories about authors such as the proletarian poets Hristo Smirnenski and Nikola Vaptsarov. Through her works, she taught critical thinking, and civic responsibility.She began writing theatrical scenes in 1960s and they developed over the years. Each class performed The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; About the Letters, based on texts of medieval Bulgarian literature; Vaptsarov - Eternal and Contemporary and The Mansard of Dreams from verses by symbolists, and other works. Her productions enjoyed great success among her students. The performances of these scenes were innovative, highly artistic, acknowledged by lecturers at the Krastyo Sarafov Higher Institute for Theater Arts (now known as the National Academy of Theater and Film Arts) and directors, and commissions which reviewed amateur theater. Nevertheless, her works also drew the suspicion of the state authorities.

The Rock Museum was established in 2014 as a grassroots initiative by former musicians, experts, and collectors. The museum is the first collection in Hungary that presents documents and items of importance to the Hungarian rock and popular music scene (with an international and primarily regional focus) from the late 1950s to the present. Generally, the phenomenon of rock music under state socialism is considered a form of cultural resistance.

Andrej Aplenc’s testimony of captivity on the island of Goli was held in front of a young audience in Ljubljana on August 27, 2014. Aplenc was detained twice on Goli. The first time, he went to Goli otok in 1949 for a year, and the second time was in 1952 for two years. The reason for his first imprisonment was his criticism of the lack of freedom of speech in Yugoslavia, as he advocated greater freedom of expression for young people. The second time he was imprisoned for refusing to cooperate with the state security service, which tried to recruit him as an informer.

The event was organized by the Study Centre for National Reconciliation and is listed in their Archive of Testimonies as one of the testimonies about the post-war rigidity of the communist system that also impacted young people, resulting in disillusionment with this system and Aplenc's emigration. The testimony is publicly available by prior arrangement but has not yet been used.

Un bust al eroului revoluționar și al poetului rebel Ion Monoran a fost dezvelit în data de 16 decembrie 2014, la exact 25 de ani de la începuturile Revoluției din decembrie 1989 în Timișoara. Cu un sfert de secol înainte, Ion Monoran strigase: “Jos comunismul!” în apropierea locuinței pastorului László Tőkés, unde mulțimea se adunase pentru a împiedica mutarea forțată a acestuia din Timișoara. În aceeași zi, Ion Monoran a avut inițiativa de a opri primele tramvaie în Piața Maria din Timișoara, un moment socotit ulterior ca avînd o semnificație deosebită pentru catalizarea nemulțumirii populare și implicit desfășurarea ulterioară a evenimentelor din 1989 de la Timișoara și ulterior din București.

Bustul, realizat de sculptorul Aurel Gheorghe Ardeleanu, este amplasat în zona restaurantului Flora, foarte aproape de Piața Maria din Timișoara și, de asemenea, foarte aproape chiar de locul în care, în 16 decembrie 1989, Ion Monoran a oprit tramvaiele. Ana Monoran, soția-văduvă a lui Ion Monoran, a spus, în cadrul interviului de documentare, că apreciază foarte mult sculptura făcută de Aurel Gheorghe Ardelean și că este un loc la care merge des, pentru a-și regăsi liniștea. Costul de realizare al acestui bust a fost de 13.000 de lei (aproximativ 2.700 de euro) și a fost suportat integral de către oficialitățile orașului Timișoara. Materialul în care a fost turnat acest bust este bronzul.

Pe lîngă acest bust turnat în bronz, în Timișoara există o stradă care poartă numele lui Ion Monoran. De asemenea, sala de lectură de la Memorialul Revoluției din Timișoara îi poartă numele. Pe fațada casei în care a locuit Ion Monoran se găsește o placă comemorativă. Ion Monoran este, post-mortem, cetățean de onoare al municipiului Timișoara. 

The private collection contains materials documenting the celebration of the Grand Jubilee, when 100,000 pilgrims gathered in Solin in Dalmatia on 12 September 1976. The Grand Jubilee celebrated the thirteen centuries of the first contacts of the Croats with the Holy See and 1,000 years of the construction of the first known Croatian Marian shrine. By commemorating the Croatian Catholic medieval rulers and statehood, the Church articulated a collective identity rooted in the past and tradition. As such, it was inherently opposed to the socialist imagery offered by the Yugoslav state. Some Communist Party members saw in the massive mobilisation of believers the “escalation of nationalism” as a follow-up to the Croatian Spring.

The exhibition “Samizdat the Creative Power of Resistance” was prepared by the library Libri Prohibiti in cooperation with the National Library of the Czech Republic in the spring of 2014. The exhibition held in the Klementinum Gallery in Prague presented samizdat as a social phenomenon within the context of the 1970s and 1980s. Among the exhibits, the most important editions and authors of Czech samizdat literature could be found. Visitors could also learn about various ways of the production and reproduction of samizdat, and about the persecution of samizdat publishers and distributors.

As government violence increased against pro-Europe activists involved in the Maidan protests of 2013-2014, demonstrators began building barricades for defense. The Ukrainian Museum-Archives has in its permanent collection a park bench from Kyiv, which was used as part of EuroMaidan barricade. Harlan Crow, an eccentric real estate developer from Texas, purchased the bench in 2015 through channels that remain unknown and brought the item back to Dallas. Crow has particular interest in pro-democracy movements worldwide and has a vast personal collection of toppled statues of authoritarian figures and other memorabilia from former communist countries.  He is also a staunch Republican and supports campaigns like those of Senator Rob Portman, who is big supporter of the UMA. Portman suggested that Crow donate the bench to the Ukrainian Museum-Archives, an institution that collects and preserves artifacts that are important for Ukrainian history. Portman is co-chair of the Senate caucus on Ukraine and feels that it is important to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and democratic development. Therefore, he and members of his staff are frequent visitors to the UMA and have also traveled to Ukraine to observe firsthand what is happening there.

This piece in the UMA’s collection demonstrates that its mission also aims to engage the present historical moment, which involves grappling with Ukraine’s difficult past and complex relationship to communism. The Euromaidan caused a fissure in Ukraine, further polarizing conversations about history, memory and the crimes of communism. Moreover, this featured item also further underscores the importance of the Ukrainian community’s relationship to Ohio’s Congressional leadership, who through crucial interventions and ongoing engagement continue to support the UMA’s mission to preserve and disseminate Ukraine’s archival heritage.