Dr. Olga Zabalueva

Biography

Olga Zabalueva is a lecturer in Museology at Umeå University with a PhD in Culture Studies. Her research focuses on the construction of identities through museums, Memory Studies, and museum activism. With a decade of experience in cultural institutions in Moscow and Sweden, she has a strong background in collection departments. Her doctoral work at Linköping University involved examining the political processes in museum making and unmaking, particularly how cultural institutions frame 'difficult issues'. Zabalueva advocates for socially relevant museum practices based on an agonistic memory framework. She is particularly interested in the politics of memory and heritage in the post-Soviet space. Additionally, she explores decolonial museology and the working conditions of museum professionals in relation to new materialisms and the digital realm of museum collections. Olga is an active member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the Memory Studies Association (MSA), and serves on the board of the Swedish Gender Museums Association.

Research Interests