Meetings/Events

Meeting + Conference Dresden - 11-15 February 2015

Promo-Trailer for the Dresden Meeting

The main focus of this event was to provide a historical overview of the impact of WWII in Dresden. This was achieved through:

A city tour in the historic centre of Dresden where the participants visited memorials of WWII, reconstructed buildings such as the Zwinger Palace, the Dresden State Opera House and the Frauenkirche and acquired information about the bombing of Dresden in February 1945.

A visit to Militärhistorisches Museum (Military History Museum) gave an insight to surprising aspects of military history and showed the participants how violence can be a historical, cultural, and anthropological phenomenon.

An international meeting-discussion: “What can we do?” within the framework of the International Colloquium "Cities of Peace” organised by IG 13. Februar e.V. On the evening of the 12th of February 2015, guests from European cities -amongst others, the Minister of the State of Saxony for Science and Culture, Dr Eva-Maria Stange (Germany), the General secretary of Pax Christi, Christine Hoffmann (Germany), the Mayor of Granollers, Josep Mayoral (Spain), the Vice-president of Mayors for Peace at the Gemeindehaus Kreuzkirche- and the participants of the Bridging Generations project discussed at the Gemeidehaus Dresdner Kreuzkirche mainly about how can Remembrance lead to a culture of peace.

“A Meeting of Generations” organised by the association IG 13. Februar e.V. at Dreikonigskirche where senior citizens of Dresden, who were witnesses of WWII’s Dresden bombing and of the Cold War presented to the international guests of different age groups the “Cities of Peace” promoting the culture of peace in their cities through commemoration.

Joining the “March for Traces of Offenders”. Since 2011, the 'Alliance Dresden-Nazifrei’ holds the so-called Täterspurenmahngang (March for Traces of Offenders) with different stations: Ilgen-Kampfbahn, Gauforum, the City Hall, Dresdner Bank, the Theatre Square, Taschenbergpalais, Castle Square 1, Ständehaus, the Frauenkirche contributing to the debate on commemoration in Dresden by setting a questioning, critical counterpart to the non-critical commemoration.

Participating in the commemoration of Dresden's bombing in February 1945 outside Frauenkirche, where the Mayor of Dresden Helma Orocz gave a speech, and joining the ‘Menschenkette’ (Human Chain) which honours the victims of The War with the message “Never again” to racism and radicalism.

Workshop “Collective memories through the method of biographical narrative” led by Prof Pavlos Pantazis (School of Film Studies, Fine Arts, AUTh) and Researcher & Cinematographer, Maya Tsamprou.

International Conference “GEDENKEN IN DRESDEN”

14/02/2015	Clara-Schumann-Saal in Kulturrathaus (Culture Department), Dresden
16:00 – 16:05	Salutation by the committee of Jugend- & Kulturprojekt e.V, Stefan Kiehne, Chairman of Jugend- & Kulturprojekt e.V.
16:05 – 16:15	Presentation about the project Bridging Generations, Myrto-Helena Pertsinidi, Project Manager of Jugend- & Kulturprojekt e.V.
16:15 – 16:25	Salutation by the representative of the municipality of Dresden, Dr Johannes Schulz.
16:25 – 16:50	Experience, Narration, Symbol and Legend: The 13th of February in Dresden, Prof Dr Karl-Siegbert Rehberg, TU Dresden, Institute for Sociology – Dresden, Germany.
16:55 – 17:10	Cultures of Remembrance and their Media: Dresden 1945 as an example, Matthias Neutzner, Founder and Organizer of IG 13. Februar e.V. – Dresden, Germany.
17:15 – 17:25	Presentation about the Culture of Remembrance in Greece (Thessaloniki), Prof Pavlos Pantazis, Film Studies Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – Thessaloniki, Greece.
17:30 – 17:40	Art and War Prof Xenofon Sachinis, Dean of the Fine Arts Faculty of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – Thessaloniki, Greece.
17:40 – 17:55	Presentation about the Culture of Remembrance in Poland (Wroclaw) Piotr Michalowski, Culture Manager of the Culture Centre of Olesnica – Olesnica, Poland.
18:00 – 18:15	Presentation about the Culture of Remembrance in Italy (Bologna), Micaela Merli: Representative of the International Relations Department of the Municipality of Bologna – Bologna, Italy.
18:15 – 18:25	Presentation about the Culture of Remembrance in Great Britain (Coventry), James Joel Dann, Journalist and Film Maker – Coventry, England.
18:45 – 20:00	Discussions/Workshops in five groups – Cultural exchange
	I)	Memory and Identity, coordinated by Prof Karl-Siegbert Rehberg (TU Dresden, Institute for Sociology – DE).
	II)	Memory and Art - Literature, coordinated by Prof Xenofon Sachinis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – GR), Prof Susanne Vees-Gulani (Case Western Reserve University – USA) and Prof Andrew Rigby (Emeritus Professor Coventry University – UK).
	III)	Memory and Symbols, coordinated by Matthias Neutzner (Researcher and founder of IG 13. Februar e.V. – DE).
	IV)	Memory and commemoration through the method of biographical narrative, coordinated by Prof Pavlos Pantazis & Maya Tsamprou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – GR).
	VI)	Memory and Politics, coordinated by Prof Eiichi Kido (University of Ōsaka – JP).

Promotion video for the conference in Dresden - 14.02.2015

The speakers at the conference:

Matthias Neutzner
	-	54-year-old engineer and social scientist. Researcher in the fields of history, politics of history and culture of remembrance.
	-	Chairman of the interest group ‘February 13, 1945’, an intergenerational peace initiative.
	-	Several monographs and book chapters about the history of Dresden during Nazism and World War II and the related cultures of memory.
	-	2008 to 2012: Employee in the European science project ‘Identity and Conflict. Cultural Heritage and The Re-Construction of Identities in Post-Conflict’
	-	Co-founder of the Forum ERINNERN GESTALTEN (Shaping of Memory) Dresden
	At the international conference "Gedenken in Dresden": presentation about ‘Cultures of Remembrance and their Media - Dresden 1945 as an example’ and leads the workshop ‘Remembrance and Symbols’.

Prof Susanne Vees-Gulani
	-	Associate Professor of German and Comparative Literature in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA.
	-	Her research focuses on 20th and 21st Century German literature and culture, the Second World War, Post-war Reconstruction and Identity Formation, Trauma and Memory studies and Science and Literature.
	-	Author of ‘Trauma and Guilt: Literature of Wartime Bombing in Germany’ (2003) and co-editor of ‘Generational Shifts in Contemporary German Culture’ (2010).
	-	Awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship to work on her book project about the origins and manifestations of the German victim discourse surrounding Dresden.
	At the international conference "Gedenken in Dresden": leads the workshop ‘Remembrance and Literature’.

Prof Dr phil. Karl-Siegbert Rehberg
	-	Since 1992: founding professor of Sociology and professor of Sociological Theory, History of Theory and Cultural Sociology at TU Dresden.
	-	Scientific head of the Dresden School of Culture in the Dresden International University, director of the Dresdner Institut für Kulturstudien e.V. (institute for cultural studies) and member of the saxon Senate and Council of Culture of Dresden
	-	2013 honorary membership of the department „Cultural Sociology” of the German Society of Sociology
	At the international conference “Gedenken in Dresden”: presentation about “Experience, Narration, Symbol and Legend. The 13th of February in Dresden” and leads the workshop “Remembrance and Identity”

Prof Eiichi Kido
	-	Political scientist and professor at the State University of Osaka, Japan (University lecturer in the Department of German politics).
	-	Peace activist fighting against the remilitarisation of Japan.
	-	Research in Berlin, proofreading for the German Academic Exchange in Leipzig.
	-	Published i.a. a work about the history of the GDR ‘Reflections on the Politics of History in Germany to the GDR past’ and a book titled ‘The remilitarsation of Japan after 1945. Return to a militant nationalism?’
	At the international conference "Gedenken in Dresden": leads the workshop ‘Remembrance and Politics’.

Prof Andrew Rigby
	-	Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies at Coventry University where he was the founding director of the Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies.
	-	As a pacifist he has had a life-time interest in nonviolence and nonviolent change, this led to an interest in the importance of memory and memorialisation as a driver of violence and nonviolence.
	-	His main regional interest focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and he has just finished a book on Palestinian popular resistance against occupation.
	-	He published i.a. the article: ‘Memorialising war: the narratives of two European cities, Coventry and Dresden’.
	At the international conference "Gedenken in Dresden": leads the workshop about ‘Remembrance and Peace’.

Prof Xenofon Sachinis
	-	1973-1978: Studied at the Fine Arts School of Athens; currently Professor of Printmaking.
	-	2011-2014: Chairman of the Visual and Applied Arts Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, since 2014: Dean of the Fine Arts Faculty of this Institute.
	-	Published two books concerning the concept of contemporary printmaking.
	-	Exhibited worldwide (e.g. USA, France, Spain, Sweden, Slovakia, Japan, Egypt, etc.).
	At the international conference "Gedenken in Dresden": presentation about ‘How was the 2nd World War interpreted in Art’ and leads the workshop ‘Remembrance and Art’.

Prof Pavlos Pantazis
	-	Social Psychologist and Associate Professor at the Film Department of the School of Fine Arts of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece.
	-	Scientific coordinator and research associate in research programs.
	-	Published 46 scientific publications (books, chapters in books, journal articles, papers in conference proceedings, scientific reports).
	-	Has been a member of the organising/scientific committee in 20 Greek and international scientific conferences.
	-	Has been a guest speaker in 66 (45 Greek and 21 international) conferences.
	At the international conference "Gedenken in Dresden": presentation about ‘The culture of Remembrance in Greece (Thessaloniki)’ and leads the workshop ‘Remembrance and Memory’.

Piotr Michałowski
	-	2007: graduated Cultural Studies at the University of Wroclaw.
	-	2010: finished his postgraduate studies in ‘Administration and Entrepreneurship in Culture’.
	-	2011: finished Wroclaw´s School of Jazz (educated in Jazz guitar).
	-	Coordination of projects with all generations -mostly for elderly people- and of projects with the aim to encourage inhabitants of a community to establish new societies, promoting an idea of democracy and networking. Moderator and strategic consultant for cultural institutions, creator of international musical projects.
	-	Chairman of a European network of culture centres (ENCC) based in Brussels.
	At the international conference "Gedenken in Dresden": presentation about ‘The culture of Remembrance in Poland (Wroclaw)’. Furthermore, he will perform a short concert at the end of the conference.

‘Different crowds clamour’ – Interdisciplinary Music performance

There is a famous peace, ‘Different trains’, by American minimalist composer Steve Reich, whose idea was related to the different trains that transported people in Europe during the WWII. Some trains gave shelter and rescued people, some other trains took people to their death at concentration camps…

Crowded streets are an obvious fact in our surroundings and localities (from Tokyo to New York, from Warsaw to Madrid, from Helsinki to Cape Town). The clamour of the crowd is then really different, depending on the circumstances. Some ‘clamours’ may be heard as merchants’ quarrel, some as a crowded street on a Monday morning; some crowds are demanding, some make war and some others evolve. The most interesting part of this piece is the clamour of the crowds between 1915 and 2015.

During this fifteen-minute performance, the audience will be able to experience a collage of the original soundscapes/fonosfera and photos of pre-war markets and streets, then of WWII with sounds from occupied Warsaw, the war in Wrocław and Dresden, finishing with the contemporary with soundscapes from the crowded streets of the city of Wrocław. Through a live guitar performance by Piotr Michałowski the audience will travel back to the pre-war time and during WWII, where they will experience the clamour of crowds.

Collages, playing & composition: Piotr Michałowski

Wrocław, 2015

The conference was co-funded by the European and International Affairs Division of Dresden, the Local Acting Programme for Democracy and Tolerance and the European programme Europe for Citizens.

The management of the conference was supported by the organisation IG 13. Februar e.V.

The conference took place under the patronage of the Mayor of Dresden, Helma Orosz.