“1989 – Images of change”
March - November 2009, Europe-wide
The EUSTORY competition for Europeans born 1980 -1991
Supported by: Svenska Kulturfonden, Robert Bosch Stiftung, Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur, Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe and Fondazione per la Scuola
At the beginning of the 1980s the winds of change began to sweep across Europe.
Starting with the “Solidarność” movement in Poland, followed by the Russian “Perestroika”, the singing revolution in the Baltic States, the opening of the Hungarian borders, the peaceful revolution in Eastern Germany and the dramatic revolution against the dictatorship in Romania, Europeans stood up for their rights and initiated the downfall of Communist totalitarianism in Europe. The fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and the breakdown of the Soviet Union in 1991 were the two major turning points of European history that symbolized the times of change.
Now, in the first decade of the 21st Century, Europe has to a large extent overcome the ideological and geographical separation that arose after World War II and its aftermath. The first generation of Europeans that has not experienced ideological confrontation and closed borders is now entering university and business life. Instead of taking individual freedom and democratic rights for granted, these young Europeans should understand how much the years of change between 1980 and 1991 affected and still affect themselves and the lives in their families and communities.
This is why in 2009 EUSTORY launched its Europe-wide project “1989 – Images of change”. This initiative links local and private recollections on the end of totalitarianism with a critical analysis done by today’s young Europeans. It creates a unique multinational kaleidoscope of the crucial years between 1980 and 1991 which resulted in the fall of the iron curtain that separated Europe for four decades.
On 5 November 2009 the competition officially ended with its award ceremony held in Trieste. On the occasion of the award ceremony Erhard Busek, Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe (2002-2008) and Jean Monnet Professor spoke on the topic of "1989: The role of politics, history and mythology in the Balkans". The ceremony was concluded by the awarding of the winners.
