1989 – MAPPING THE NORTHWEST
A Factory for New Culture project
Duration: 10 months (March - December)
Idea: In 2009 we face the fact that 20 years passed after 1989 - the end of communism. But do we all know what happened in 1989? Where are the signs of memory of 1989 in our cities? How and where from young people could learn about 89? How many young people know that this same year started the dramatic political and economical changes that affected people’s life in their own cities? Which are the facts that still remain half-expressed by their parents and grandparents?
All these questions need to be discussed and answered. Mainly in Northwest Bulgaria where the majority of the population accepted 1989 not as the end of the totalitarian regime and a new opportunity for the better, but as a trauma.
Goal: The main goal of this project is to initiate a discussion in which young people play the key role. Students from Northwest Bulgaria together with teachers, experts and artists, will “map” 4 Northwestern cities by finding and remaking signs of memories of 1989 (the recent past) in those cities and thus making 1989 “visible” for citizens and guests of those cities.
How?
- by identifying the way young people today connect with the recent past;
- by provoking youngsters’ interest in the 1989, so they to start asking questions about this recent past;
- by involving young people in a constructive dialogue with their parents so to identify the emotions of 1989;
- by investigating how recent history is thought in Bulgarian schools.
Activities: Independent teams will work in the four cities – Vidin, Montana, Vratsa and Varshets. Each team will organize investigative workshops. The results of their work will be periodically presented during the project – in May during the Goat Milk memories festival and in Sofia at the end. The open – museums created by the young people to artistically map the memories of 1989 they have found – is the culmination of the project.
Two weeks summer school will gather in Bela Rechka 12 to 15 young people from the four cities who will work together with Bulgarian and foreign theatre directors to interpret part of the most interesting stories, gathered in Vidin, Montana, Vratza and Varshetz using the language of the open air theatre. The performance will be presented during the annual fest of the city of Varshetz in August.
Contact: Mariana Assenova, +359 888 310 667, mariana@e80.eu
New Culture Foundation