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In the framework of a study visit on remembrance, culture, and “coming to terms with the past,” orgsanised by the Goethe Institute, a delegation of academics, decision-makers, and media representatives from Croatia visited ERIAC on 24 November 2018.
The participants represented the University of Zagreb, the University of Zadar, the Catholic University of Croatia, and the Jasenovac memorial site. Also present were representatives of the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Croatian Veterans, and the Croatian Television and Radio Broadcasting Corporation.
The Goethe Institute’s study visit focused on German remembrance culture, concepts of “coming to terms with the past” (“Vergangenheitsbewältigung”), and research on inter-generational trauma. Another important part was the work of memorial sites and their concepts for communication and education.
At ERIAC, the Croatian delegation was given a brief tour of the current exhibition by Selma Selamn and Sead Kazanxhiu before embarking on a Q&A led by Dr. Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka on “Promoting the Activities of Roma Organisations, Intellectuals, and Artists at National and European Levels”. A lively debate ensued touching the specificities of German and Croatian remembrance culture, the situation of Roma in Croatia, and the work of ERIAC in the fields of arts and culture. Our guests also presented the work of the Jasenovac Memorial site, which is central to Romani remembrance culture and was visited by ERIAC and KALI SARA during the Zagreb event of ERIAC’s Cultural Network Initiative (CINI). Finally, we explored future possibilities for Roma Arts and Culture work in Croatia.
The study visit was part of the visitor’s programme of the German Government, that lies under the responsibility of the Federal Foreign Office. The study trips are organised by the Goethe Institute in its function as quango and organs of the German Foreign and Cultural Policy.
The “Besucherprogramm der Bundesregierung“ constitutes an important part of the Government’s public relations. Their goal is the presentation of an authentic and modern image of Germany in relation to various discourses relating to the specific work of high-level visitors that are selected by the German embassies and consulates abroad.