The project «Flucht europäisch erzählen. Being refugee: A European narrative» was funded with the support of the European Union under the Programme “Europe for Citizens”

Event 1

Participation: The event involved more than 110 citizens, including 96 participants from Slovenia, three from Austria, three from Croatia, two from Bosnia and Herzegovina, one from Germany, one from Serbia, two from Russia and two from France.
Location / Dates: The event took place at the Museum of Contemporary History in Ljubljana (Slovenia) from 08/02/2018 to 25/03/2018.
Short description: The aim of the event was to present the project aims, activities and outputs (publication, exhibition and educational work) to the broad public in Slovenia. The Museum of Contemporary History from Ljubljana (the Slovene project partner organization) organized the event jointly with the Austrian Academy of Sciences from Vienna (the project applicant). On 8 February, Slovenia’s National Holiday, the project exhibition (in Slovene: “Biti begunec: Evropska zgodba”) was opened showing fifteen objects accompanied by fifteen twentieth-century European refugee stories. On the same day, a history workshop on “Being a refugee”, followed up by a discussion, was held at the museum for students of the high school Gimnazija Škofja Loka (Škofja Loka). The workshop was led by the representatives of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Anisa Hasanhodžić and Mag. Rifet Rustemović. The students gave feedback on the topic and the exhibition, and presented their own contribution to the project, showing a film on the refugee narrative topic, which they have produced during workshops run jointly with the curator of the Museum of Contemporary History, Ms. Urška Purg. The project exhibition was subsequently also showed at the high school in Škofja Loka.

Event 2

Participation: The event involved more than 63 citizens, including 56 participants from Croatia, two from Austria, two from Serbia, one from Slovakia and two from Boston, USA.
Location / Dates: The event took place at the Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral Rijeka in Rijeka (Croatia) from 05/03/2018 to 04/04/2018.
Short description: The aim of the event was to present the project aims, activities and outputs (publication, exhibition and educational work) to the broad public in Croatia. The Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral Rijeka (the Croatian project partner organization) organized the event jointly with the Austrian Academy of Sciences (the project applicant). On 5 March, the project exhibition (in Croatian: “Biti izbjeglica: europski narativ”) presenting fifteen twentieth-century European refugee stories was opened at the project partner institution in Croatia. A history workshop on “Being a refugee” with subsequent discussion was held for students from the high school Prva riječka hrvatska gimnazija (Rijeka’s First Croatian High School), who also attended the opening event at the museum. This workshop was led by the representative of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Anisa Hasanhodžić, and the museum curator Ivo Mileusnić. Additional guided tours were organized for students from several Croatian secondary schools.

Event 3

Participation: The event involved more than 121 citizens, including 114 participants from Serbia, three from Austria, two from Slovenia, one from Greece and one from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Location / Dates: The event took place at the Museum of Vojvodina in Novi Sad (Serbia) from 26/03/2018 to 09/04/2018.
Short description: The aim of the event was to present the project aims, activities and outputs (publication, exhibition and educational work) to the broad public in Serbia. The Museum of Vojvodina (the Serbian project partner organization) organized the event jointly with the Austrian Academy of Sciences (the project applicant). The project exhibition (in Serbian: “Biti izbeglica: evropski narativ”) presenting fifteen twentieth-century European refugee stories and fifteen objects, as well as additional objects on the history of refugee movements and refugees contributed by the Museum of Vojvodina, was opened on 26 March 2018 by Dr. Johannes Irschik, the director of the Austrian Cultural Forum in Belgrade, who spoke on behalf of the Austrian Embassy in Serbia. Prior to the opening ceremony a history workshop on “Being a refugee”, followed by a lively discussion, was held at the museum for students of the high school Jovan Jovanović Zmaj. This workshop was led by the representatives of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Anisa Hasanhodžić and Mag. Rifet Rustemović.

Event 4

Participation: The event involved more than 93 citizens, including 89 participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, two from Austria, one from Poland and one from France/Canada.
Location / Dates: The event took place at the Museum of Eastern Bosnia in Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina) from 09/04/2018 to 09/05/2018.
Short description: The aim of the event was to present the project aims, activities and outputs (publication, exhibition and educational work) to the broad public in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Museum of Eastern Bosnia (the Bosnian-Herzegovinian project partner organization) organized the event jointly with the Austrian Academy of Sciences (the project applicant). The project exhibition (in Bosnian: “Biti izbjeglica: evropski narativ”) on fifteen twentieth-century European refugee stories was opened on 9 April 2018. A history workshop on “Being a refugee”, including a discussion, was held for students of the high school Srednja građevinska škola in Tuzla, who also attended the opening event at the museum and offered feedback on the workshop and the exhibition. This workshop was led by the representatives of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Anisa Hasanhodžić and Mag. Rifet Rustemović. Additional guided tours were subsequently organized by the museum for various primary and secondary school classes and for university students from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Event 5

Participation: The event involved more than 106 citizens, including 87 participants from Austria, four from Slovenia, three from Serbia, two each from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Croatia and Syria, and one each from Poland, the United Kingdom, Italy and Turkey.
Location / Dates: The event took place at the Wien Museum in Vienna (Austria) and was initially scheduled to run from 16/05/2018 to 16/06/2018 but then extended until 13/01/2019.
Short description: The aim of the event was to present the project aims, activities and outputs of the project to the broad public in Austria. The project exhibition (“Fluchtspuren/What Remains: Traces of Refugees”) opened at the Wien Museum in Vienna on 16 May 2018. The Wien Museum (the Austrian project partner organization) organized the event jointly with the Austrian Academy of Sciences (the project applicant). Prior to the opening ceremony, a public panel discussion at the Wien Museum brought together representatives of all the project partner institutions and additional invited guests for a discussion on the European refugee narrative. The project aims and outputs, including the project publication Being a Refugee: A European Narrative, as well as the educational activities and exhibitions held in the project partner countries, were presented to the public. Students from the high school Gymnasium Draschestraße in Vienna’s 23rd district attended a history workshop on 17 May and offered feedback on the exhibition. This workshop was prepared by the representatives of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Anisa Hasanhodžić and Mag. Rifet Rustemović, and the representative of the Wien Museum Mag. Gerhard Milchram.The project exhibition had been scheduled to last for four weeks, yet following the inclusion of the project and the exhibition in the official cultural guide published in connection with the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (July to December 2018) the exhibition was extended until January 2019.Additional public events and guided tours during this additionl time will again be organized jointly by the Wien Museum and the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Event 6

Participation: The event involved more than 27 citizens, including ten participants from Ukraine, nine from Poland, and three from Austria and one each from Georgia, the United Kingdom, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Jordan.
Location / Dates: The event took place at the Lazarski University in Warsaw (Poland) on 22/06/2018.
Short description: The aim of the event was to present the project aims, activities and outputs to the broad public in Poland. The Lazarski University (the Polish project partner organization) organized the event jointly with the Austrian Academy of Sciences (the project applicant). Two representatives from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Anisa Hasanhodžić and Mag. Rifet Rustemović, presented the project activities to the participants, highlighting the aims and outputs of the project. They also presented the refugee stories showcased by the project exhibition and introduced the project publication on the European refugee narrative. In addition, Dr. Christopher Lash discussed refugee experiences in Polish history. The event ended with a long discussion, which also focused on the European refugee crisis of the twenty-first century, touching on European policies and the views and attitudes of citizens, thus connecting historical narratives and current refugee experiences and the challenges they have raised and continue to raise.

Further events

Events presenting this project have continued to be held after the official end of the project. For example, on 10 July 2018 the project was introduced at the University of Leipzig (Germany), which, alongside the University of Tübingen, was one of the project partner institutions in Germany. Given the considerable interest aroused by the project, further similar events are currently being planned.
Please note: This project was also supported by the Cultural Division of the Austrian Federal Chancellery.