20 years ago …

When the Berlin Wall fell, my sense of elation was mixed with surprise and insecurity about the future. I had been living in Europe already 14 years, 12 of them in Sweden. I had toured with performances in East Germany, Poland, the Baltic States and Czechoslovakia, during some difficult years. I had come to know people on “the other side of the Wall” as colleagues, spectators and concerned citizens.

For many Western Europeans the confusion was intense. Europe had changed radically after World War II. Dark shadows had fallen across large areas of our common cultural and intellectual map. I remember a close friend saying, as we watched the TV newscasts from Berlin: “It feels as if someone is returning stolen parts of my body - Budapest my arm, Kraków my leg, Praha one of my lungs. I can write, walk and breathe again.” Our common cultural heritage was re-weaved - or at least the possibility suddenly existed.

But is that really what happened? Did a new free exchange of ideas and initiatives erupt? Did the great encounter between writers, philosophers, political activists and poets take place? Is Europe unified?

The obvious answer is negative. In fact, Europe has never have been so fragmented as it is today. The domination of the West, politically and economically, is still status quo. And to make things worse, there are second and third class Eastern nations, outside the EU, outside major investment schemes of global capitalism, outside Fortress Europe.

What are the cultural opportunities in this fragmented reality?

Before the Fall of the Berlin Wall, many active exchanges took place between artists and audiences. A political freeze was on and the West had blocked economic development in Communist countries. But people kept contact with one another. Books were exchanged. Theatre performances were shown on both sides of the Wall. Movies were passed along with scripts and poems. On my visits 1980-1989, I carried with me coffee, oranges and printing machinery.

Today, the barriers are less invisible. Globalization rules and regionalism is weakened. The nations around the Black Sea have limited cultural exchange. The separation of languages, political history and blocked mobility makes relations difficult.

We have so much to learn. Avoiding neo-colonialism and cultivating mutual transformation. The experiences and competence in Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and even the new EU countries Bulgaria and Romania are not yet incorporated into the European picture. Let’s start with culture!