Freedom of Speech Beyond Borders is an interdisciplinary educational project that aims to introduce young people to the history of the struggle against censorship during the Cold War and to facilitate critical reflection on current cases of violations of freedom of expression and limiting access to reliable sources of information.
The programme consists of an online seminar session, followed by nine-day study visits for two groups of students to selected European memory sites and archives. Participants will have the opportunity to confront the legacy of the underground - so-called samizdat and tamizdat – literature and art, that took form of typewritten magazines, amateur photographs, handmade poetry books or mail art correspondence. Their tasks will include conducting interviews with former dissidents involved in publishing activities between 1956 and 1989, as well as those currently facing persecution by authoritarian states.
Two groups will later meet to attend workshop sessions in Maisons-Laffitte, where they will address the issues raised during the study visits and process their experiences through hands-on art practices. Their reflections will be manifested in a collective travel diary published as a zine, created with the help and under supervision of artist mentors.
When?
25 – 26 August 2025 – Online seminar
1 – 10 September 2025 – Study visits
The programme consists of an online seminar session, followed by nine-day study visits for two groups of students to selected European memory sites and archives. Participants will have the opportunity to confront the legacy of the underground - so-called samizdat and tamizdat – literature and art, that took form of typewritten magazines, amateur photographs, handmade poetry books or mail art correspondence. Their tasks will include conducting interviews with former dissidents involved in publishing activities between 1956 and 1989, as well as those currently facing persecution by authoritarian states.
Two groups will later meet to attend workshop sessions in Maisons-Laffitte, where they will address the issues raised during the study visits and process their experiences through hands-on art practices. Their reflections will be manifested in a collective travel diary published as a zine, created with the help and under supervision of artist mentors.
When?
25 – 26 August 2025 – Online seminar
1 – 10 September 2025 – Study visits
