COURAGE (“Cultural Opposition – Understanding the CultuRal HeritAGE of Dissent in the Former Socialist Countries”) is a three-year international research project funded by Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. We are an international academic community interested in cultural dissent under Socialism in Eastern Europe.
The project posits culture in Eastern Europe before 1989 as more than socialist realism and dull propaganda art: at certain times and places alternative cultural scenes flourished despite the strict controls of socialist regimes. They do research that tackles this rich and colourful legacy of cultural opposition in the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe by exploring and comparing collections on cultural opposition; tell stories of non-conformist avant-garde art, anti-establishment religious movements, civic initiatives for unofficial education and publication, dissident movements, underground punk and rock bands, alternative ways of life, even novel spiritual practices, and many more.
The website also presents the first digital database of both online and offline private and public collections in Europe which testify to the survival of various forms of cultural opposition in the former socialist countries; as well as show how these collections work, what functions they serve in their respective societies, and how they represent their holdings and findings to the national and international public.