During the study trip, we examined many samizdat publications which, despite strict censorship, stood as examples of free expression. These works appeared in countless genres, yet what they shared was their liminality. Not only the publications themselves, but their authors as well lived in an in-between state: between public and private spaces, between visibility and invisibility, between the legal and the illegal or between materiality and textuality. These grey zones function much like translation: they mediate something between two universes. We think of translation not only as linguistic conversion, but as a universal act of crossing boundaries. The form of the finished zine also aims to reflect this: it can be read linearly or as a mosaic, approached both as a text and as an artistic object — drawing attention to the freedom of liminality. 

Dorottya Szabó creator 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.