Well-known Romanian film director Andrei Ujica and writer Calin-Andrei Mihailescu are guest speakers at the conference SOLIDARITY / Solidarities, the inaugural event of the Children of the Revolution Season dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the 1989 democratic transformation in Europe.
Over the course of 1989, from June to November, and on into 1990, the cold-war status quo was radically brought to an end by a series of revolutions and political transformations that swept across Central and Eastern Europe. From the shipyards of Gdansk, via Berlin's Brandenburg Gate and Prague's Wenceslaus Square, to the boulevards of Bucharest, the 'people's democracies' of the region were brought face to face with the democratic will of their own people on their own city streets and squares. Children of the Revolution 1989 - 2009 is a series of events taking place this year in London, twenty years on, examining these revolutionary happenings and their legacy.
SOLIDARITY / Solidarities conference will engage with the historical moment of Solidarity and other oppositional movements in Central and Eastern Europe, with a view to reassessing the concept of 'solidarity' both in its theoretical dimensions and in its relevance for political action today. Conference programme (Word file, English only).
Andrei Ujica (Director Center for Art and Media, ZKM, Karlsruhe) will take part in the Visual experience and representation panel on Friday 5 June, 2 - 4 pm. This panel will seek to map the visual landscape of the revolutions of 1989 and its role in bringing about a sense of the new. Ujica will be presenting the film Videograms of a Revolution (1992), which he directed in collaboration with Harun Farocki.
Andrei Ujica has lived and worked in Germany since 1981, where he teaches literature, film and media theory. He has published a number of stories and essays since 1968, such as Television/Revolution The Ultimatum of the Image. As of 1990, Ujica devotes himself to cinema and creates Out of the Present (1995), 2 Pasolini (2000), and Unknown Quantity (2005).
Calin-Andrei Mihailescu lives in Canada, where he teaches Comparative Literature, Spanish, and Critical Theory at the University of Western Ontario. He will participate in the Analytical panel on Saturday 6 June, 10.45am - 1pm. This panel will consider themes such as the relationship between politics and ethics, a sense of the common and public, the possibility of transcending traditional binaries of left and right, and connection between thought and action. He has published a large number of books and essays in English, French, Romanian and Spanish: A Europressed Country (2002), The Calendar According to Caragiale (with Liviu Papadima and Rodica Zafiu, 2002), The Coming of Don Global (with Ilinka and Andrei Mihailescu, 2003), Night Calendar/Calin's Night Gift (2003), Anthropomorphine (2005), and What Was It Like? Something Like That. Memories from the Years of [Romanian] Communism (2006).
The closing reception of the conference will take place at the Romanian Cultural Institute on Saturday 6 June, 7.30 - 10.30 pm. Showcasing Pro-democracy posters from the V&A collection, archive footage (news, propaganda films and adverts, entertainment shows), anthems and pop music from Romania's 'golden age' of Communism to date. Specially remixed, mashed up and performed by VJ Casa Gontz & Electric Brother. By invitation only. The visuals will include posters from the Victoria & Albert Museum's collection (http://collections.vam.ac.uk - enter 'Pro-democracy Poster Collection' into the search field) relating to the democratic revolutions of 1989. By invitation only.
Ticket Prices: £35 for 1 day, £50 for 2 days inclusive of refreshments & admission to evening receptions at University College London and the Romanian Cultural Institute. Free admission to UCL staff & students, but registration is essential. To register, or for further information, visit: http://www.ssees.ucl.ac.uk/solidarityconf.htm
Organised in partnership with EUNIC London.
When: 5 - 6 June 2009
Where: UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, Christopher Ingold Chemistry Lecture Theatre, University College London, Gower Street, WC1E 6BT
