10-13 May 2018 in Warsaw we discussed the events of 1968 in Europe with participants from six partner organizations from different countries – Fundación Altius Francisco de Vitoria from Spain, European Information Centre from Veliko Tarnovo in Bulgaria, Berlin-Brandenburgische Auslandsgesellschaft ( BBAG) from Germany, the Municipality of Serres in Greece, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights from Serbia and the the hosts from the Polish Robert Schuman Foundation and members of the local project partner in Poland – the Polish Forum of Young Diplomats.
The meeting was held with the support of the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
The meeting was aimed to enable young people discussion about events of the recent history of Europe and exchange views, to become aware of the differences in perception of the same events. The meeting was also an attempt to look for analogies between the history and present situation.
Three intense days were full of various activities – from workshops, through activities in the urban space to the analysis of museum and photographic exhibitions.
Workshop on 11th May was the main place for exchanging knowledge between the participants about the events of 1968 in their countries and comparing similarities and differences of those events. At first participants in national groups created spatial installations which presented the socio-political situation in their countries in 1968. The ideas were very various – from the first page of the Bulgarian newspaper to the figure of Josip Broza Tita in the Serbian group. To create the installations, the researches carried out by all participants before the meeting and materials collected were used. Then, in international groups, the participants guided each other around the installations, telling each other about their symbolism and historical events.
As the meeting took place in Warsaw, there had to be an educational tour in the footsteps of the events of March 68 ‘. We visited Church of St. Cross, main campus of the University of Warsaw, exhibition “Personal baggage. After March” at the municipality od Warsaw, we passed the Presidential Palace, Adam Mickiewicz monument, the National Theater and the Old Town walls. During the walk the participants had to perform many tasks, such as interpreting photographs presented at the exhibition or recite „ Forefathers’ Eve” – play written by Adam Mickiewicz which was taken off the theatre in 1968 and what caused protests in Poland.
The participants also got to know Polish experiences thanks to the visit to the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and the exhibition “Estranged: March ’68 and its aftermath”. Each participant was given a list of questions to be answered during the exhibition and which were discussed after leaving the museum.
On Saturday 12th May, participants got to know Krakowskie Przedmieście – street where the protests in March 1968 were concentrated – from a completely different perspective. The street became a heart of the pro-European manifestation on the occasion of the Europe Day. We took part in the Schuman Parade, to which we prepared earlier banners together.
Some of the materials prepared by the participants to be found here.
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