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| Project Description |
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Background Whether through films like „Good-bye Lenin”, t-shirts with hammer and sickle, or game- and talk shows, the GDR is experiencing a grand revival in Germany. Remebering the socialist past from before 1989 through the spectacles of sweet, glorifying romanticism is however not purely a German phenomenon – waves of nostalgia, even though with different intensity and focus, has sweapt throughout the whole East. Tisza shoes in Hungary, “communism deluxe” tours in Poland, Tito bars in Macedonia, for Rumcajs, peculiar sweets, interior design visibly reenter discourses all over, expressing at the same time a longing for the past, and a belonging to a particular generation. Remembering the socialist past is however is not always romantic – on the contrary, communism/socialism is at least that often passionately denied, blamed, demonized, moreover, these opposing, extreme interpretations tend frequently to harmoniously coexist. Moreover, nostalgia is more than mere remembering – nostalgia, such as various motives from socialism, can actively be traced down in countless dimensions of our everyday lives. Crucial questions Due to the contradictory character of nostalgia and the passionate emotions it evokes, the project n/osztalgia – culture of memory has aimed to dig beyond the commonplaces and the polarized discussions, regarding all interpretations as legitimate, but tries to consider them with a suspicious distance. What is it people are looking for in this peculiar form of remembrance? What else is the meaning of nostalgia beyond the remembering? In what physical and mental spaces does nostalgia exist? Is it possible and is it necessary at all to talk about all that with a critical distance? Is there time for nostalgia or has it passed already? What is the role of nostalgia and what shapes does it take? How do the official culture of remembrance, for instance originating from the side of the state and the collective memory of different social groups correspond to each other? To what extent can we determine a national characteristics in remembrance and in the culture of memory? The romanitsation of the latest socialist past – is it a national or general phenomenon in post-socialist society?” The international project n\osztalgia focuses on the various aspects of this phenomenon and, ambitiously, tries to answer those questions. Young artists, photographers, scholars and fiction writers from both sides of the “Iron Curtian” gathered for a workshop in May, 2007, to jointly investigate and to critically question the (n)ostalgia wave in different CEE countries from a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. Publication “n\osztalgia – ways of revisiting the socialist past” Based on intense and partly controversial discussions held during the workshop in May, 2007, the participants developed individual projects in various genres. The results of their observations, research and dialogue are presented on this website (projects) and in the print publication “n\osztalgia – ways of revisiting the socialist past” (you can buy the publication for 6 euros+postage here). The English-speaking publication is distributed in Germany, Hungary and other participating countries. It is meant to be a vivid and reflexive contribution to the debates on collective memories and interpreting nostalgia in the regarded countries. Encyclopedia n/osztalgia The encyclopedia , which has come to existance as a sub-project of the initiation, is an open-ended, hyper-textual assembly of texts, pictures and sounds in various genres – small scholarly essays, polemic articles, personal recollections, collages, photo essays, acustic memories, etc. The goal of the encyclopdedia is to discover when, where and how nostalgia for socialist times takes place and in what forms; to spot nostalgic places, feelings, objects, and other elements; to explore and write the recent history of our countries from below and from the sideways, through our nostalgic or anti-nostalgic memories. Project partners N\osztalgia was conceptualised and conducted by Anthropolis and Plotki. Anthropolisis a non-governmental, non-political, public benefit association, founded in 2002. Anthropolis is an institute for cultural and visual anthropological research and social development.The organization has conducted numerous workshops and forums and is the publisher of a bi-annual Hungarian magazine, titled "Anthropolis Journal". The organization Rejs e.V., since its establishment in Berlin in 1999, has been pursuing its goal to promote cultural exchanges between Germany and its eastern neighbors. In the seven years since its start, this organization has run an extensive number of seminars, workshops and points of interaction for various target groups and has produced both print publications and art exhibitions. The most prominent and long-lasting project of the organization is however the Central and Eastern European journal called Plotki. Today, Plotki is a large network which brings together a wide range of young authors, journalists and artists in numerous Central and Eastern European countries. Aside from publishing the print issue of Plotki and providing a „Plotki Online“-platform, art exhibitions, readings and other cultural-creative events are organized.  |