Poets, artists and writers from various European countries exchange experiences on dictatorships and the transition to democracy. Results are presented in a literary anthology and an exhibition that tours the participating countries. See also blogs.

The project “Overcoming Dictatorships” is dedicated first of all to poets, artists and writers. Participants in the project come from Germany, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania – all countries that were subjected, in their own specific way, to 20th century authoritarian or totalitarian dictatorships. In various three-day workshops, project organisers and scientific and local audiences see them report on their experiences of life under dictatorships and the influence of the political change brought about by the fall of communism on their artistic activity. Cooperation partners come from each of the participating countries, but they also include Great Britain. Although it has not faced a dictatorship itself, Britain established authoritarian systems as a colonial country in other parts of the world.

The variety of different generations, European countries and artistic directions from which participants come has represented both an advantage and a challenge where the cooperation between them is concerned. The project involves artists who lived under the communist regime, such as Pinczehelyi Sándor from Pécs, Hungary, who was born in 1946. It also involves those who were only children or teenagers then, such as Vlad Nanca from Bucharest, Romania, who was born in 1979. Though their original motivation to take part may have varied from that of their fellow contributors – a biography of persecution, a feeling of personal historical responsibility or artistic curiosity – a unanimous desire to share and work together has emerged during the course of the project.

While poets and writers search for alternative and personal approaches to formerly politically controlled forms of remembrance, artists also addressed the present and mentioned new dictatorships in terms of religions, economic dictatorships, art and dictatorships in terms of medium, networks, globalisation and the definition of artist as reflected in the visual arts and art market and in the exhibits of the exhibition show.

Following an argument brought forward by Homi K. Bhabha, project curator Dr. Jutta Vinzent of Birmingham University analyses the artists' works as signifiers of dislocations. These are experiences both in terms of the past (through processes of mourning, remembering and attempts of overcoming) and the present (critical approach to the ideology of the western art market, the new political government and Europe).

The organisers believe that the meetings are not only a possibility for participants to talk about the past and to exchange memories. They also help to nurture a culture of respect and understanding for other people, who live(d) in neighbouring European countries or adhere to different cultures. The cultural transfer resulting from the project shall contribute to the reduction of prejudices and new forms of understanding between Central Eastern, South Eastern and Western Europe that are still handicapped by Europe’s dictatorial past. The primary cause of these prejudices is the insufficient processing of Europe’s dictatorial past. It is the formerly multicultural setting of Central Eastern European countries that has suffered most from it. As these countries had been forcefully separated from Europe during the Cold War, encounters between counterparts from East and Western Europe form a significant part of the project. Ultimately it is part of the constructions of a common European culture. The project is therefore also dedicated to the general public in all participating countries, who are addressed by the workshops, readings, publications and touring exhibition respectively.

The project includes:

• Workshops and conferences: Dresden, D (23-24 November 2006), Wałbrzych, PL (30 March-1 April 2007), Ústi nad Labem, CZ (17-19 May 2007), Budapest, HU (12-14 October 2007), Kraków, PL (8 November 2007), Bucharest, RO (7-9 December 2007), Trento, IT (9-11 May 2008).

• Publications: Literary anthology - Present tensions. European writers on overcoming dictatorships, ed. Kristina Kaiserová and Gert Röhrborn (Budapest: CEU Press 2008, forthcoming); Exhibition catalogue - Overcoming dictatorships after 1989, ed. and authored Jutta Vinzent (Bielefeld/Leipzig: Kerber 2008, forthcoming).

• Touring exhibition: Birmingham, UK (October 2008), Kraków, PL (November 2008), Bucharest, RO (December 2008), Budapest, HU (January 2009), Trento, IT (February 2009), Ústi nad Labem, CZ (March 2009), Dresden, D (April 2009).

The major difference from other art projects is that the works for the exhibition have grown out of the workshops. These workshops offer the possibility for the artists to get in contact with each other, to exchange experiences that they have undergone in their countries. Because of the set-up, the artists had a major say about the inclusion of works. Therefore, it is not only in some sense a communal work, but also methodologically informed by oral history. The meetings and discussions are filmed, and thereby constitute primary material not only for the project and its exhibition, but potentially also for further research.

Partners share a scientific and partially artistic (University of Birmingham, OSA) interest in (overcoming) dictatorships and democratic transition. They seek to establish lasting networks of cooperation within and beyond Central Eastern Europe.

Total budget of the project is 486,000 €, provided proportionally by the European Commission, the project organiser and partners.