The archives in Bremen and Prague made us realize that archiving goes far beyond the institutional storage of old documents. It permeates every aspect of life - especially under conditions of censorship. "The doors are closing" is the result of our research visits, interviews with witnesses of history, and the conversations we held among ourselves. The entire project reflects our shared reflections and our attempt to understand one another's perspectives. The archives we visited served as the starting point for the work that followed.

Lili Kátai, Yuliia Korsunska, Sára Köhnlein, and Maciej Baranowski creators of the zine

As a group, we looked for common ground. Since the four of us only met in Maisons-Laffitte and come from different parts of Europe with different backgrounds, we first had to establish a shared basis for our work. The natural link between us was the archives, which form the central focus of the entire program. Starting from the theme of archives, we wanted to give our project a touch of individual identity. This is how the idea of creating our own independent archives emerged.

Lili Kátai, Yuliia Korsunska, Sára Köhnlein, and Maciej Baranowski creators of the zine

We chose a classic 8-page zine format because it gives a chance to split the story we wanted to tell into multiple shots without losing connections between them. The decision to sew our zine with red thread shows these connections and serves as a symbol of unity despite the different experiences, languages and points of view. Also, our zine has lots of layers reminding us how complex our stories are, and there is always space to dig deeper.

Lili Kátai, Yuliia Korsunska, Sára Köhnlein, and Maciej Baranowski creators of the zine

This zine was created as part of Freedom of Speech Beyond Borders, an interdisciplinary educational project introducing young people to the history of the struggle against censorship during the Cold War. The programme combines online seminars with study visits to European archives and memory sites, where participants explore the legacy of samizdat and tamizdat literature. Through archival research, workshops, and creative practice, participants collaborate to produce DIY publications inspired by underground publishing traditions.
Learn more about the project

The project is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland within the framework of the Inspiring Culture Programme.