In April-May 2018 3 one-day debates will be held in Czech Republic, Finland and Hungary uniting the participants from Central and Western Europe. These debates will allow interrogating what are the many ways of conceiving the inter-war epoch in societies across the region? How does the state commemoration of 100 anniversaries intervene into this work of memory? What impact these narratives have on today’s politics and imagination in Europe?

Public debate in Prague | 11 April 2018 | Vaclav Havel Library

This debate is organised  in cooperation with Culture Action Europe, EUNIC Prague cluster and EU delegation with the aim of exploring the meaning of 1918 and its aftermath by today’s historians, activists and artists from different countries.

Panel #1: Understanding of the year 2018

What are the differences in understanding the 1918 in countries that were newly born? How was the breakdown of old empires viewed in Belgium and Finland? How is that period and the collapse of empires and birth of new nations seen today?

Panel #2: Last Century x Future Century

Old empires versus new nations – how is it perceived today? And what does it mean for the future of Europe? Does it influence today’s politics and societies?

The debate should result in a better understanding of the 1918 and its aftermath as seen from Western and Central European perspective and how this perception shapes today’s views, how the interpretation of history varies in countries and what possible impact it has on politics among the countries in the EU. Two Czech representatives will be invited to the closing event in Brussels to share the ideas from Prague event.

Public debate in Budapest: Utopies about Europe in 1918 and their reflections today | 11 May 2018 | Petofi Irodalmi Museum

This event will focus on the contribution of artists and intellectuals to the European idea and on the revolutionary cultural innovation and experiments with local democracy at the time of the collapse of the “Kaiserlich und Königlich” empire.

What were utopias and dreams of modernity formulated and experimented in the Eastern Europe at the time of collapse of Empires? Historians, artists and other speakers from several European countries will discuss the contemporary relevance of 1918 and  explore the international connections and the social and artistic innovations that characterized the period. The talks will explore links connecting Budapest with other European cultural networks and little known and short-lived political and cultural experiments at the time of the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire including the Banat Republic or the Free State of Fiume.

More information about this debate co-organised by Culture Action Europe is available here.

Public debate in Helsinki | 16 May 2018 | Think Corner

This public debate in Helsinki explores ways of how does the state’s commemoration of centenaries affect the work of memory in countries that were faced with communism and in those that weren’t or that see themselves as either “East” or “West”?

More information and registrations on the BOZAR website.