Nova Gorica in Slovenia and Gorizia in Italy, two cities divided by a border, are hosting this year’s ECoC Family meeting, serving as a prelude to the future Capital of Culture—Nova Gorica 2025.
The slogan “Go Borderless!” best captures the essence of this place and its complex identity. Families often speak both Italian and Slovenian, and artists seamlessly move between the two countries. Representatives from 28 cities—hosts of the European Capitals of Culture—are engaging in discussions about borders—physical, historical, cultural, and mental. We are sharing our experiences as a city near the eastern border of the EU.
As we explore the behind-the-scenes of Nova Gorica 2025 and Chemnitz 2025, we instinctively find many elements of shared history among former Eastern Bloc countries. It’s easy to be captivated by the story of Chemnitz’s 3000 garages. We understand what unwanted memories are and the active work required to deal with a difficult past, which makes it easy for us to grasp the importance of the EPIC project. We see how accurately the European Capitals of Culture project responds to the EU’s motto—United in Diversity.
Thank you for the incredibly warm welcome! We look forward to the conference in Chemnitz in June 2025, where research on the future of the European Capitals of Culture project will be summarized.
Marta Ryczkowska, Maciej Rukasz
3,000 garages will open in June in Chemnitz. The curator of the project is Agnieszka Kubicka Dzieduszycka. You can read more about it here ➡️ Eastern State of Mind (Project #3000Garagen, part of the Eastern State of Mind program line).
