Beyond ’91 – Portrait of the Perestroika Generation

Beyond ’91 – Portrait of the Perestroika Generation came to Philanthropy House from Cafebabel, and was hosted in the exhibition space from the 10th September to 5th November 2018.

More than 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Beyond ’91 – Portrait of the Perestroika Generation showcases the work of 14 young journalists, photographers and filmmakers who tell the story of the tumultuous changes of the post-Soviet era. The exhibition takes shape as a series of seven multimedia pieces, which portray cross-border stories from Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine.

The final few years of the Soviet Union brought not only a wind of change but also an unexpected baby boom. As the Soviet Union steadily imploded, these so-called Perestroika babies were growing up on the other side of the Iron Curtain. As such, their transition to adulthood runs parallel to post-Soviet society’s own chaotic transition. They quickly had to learn what freedom meant in an era of accelerated capitalism and accept that the countries of their birth no longer existed.

Following Beyond the Curtain (2015) and Balkans and Beyond (2016), Beyond ’91 – Portrait of the Perestroika Generation (2017), Cafébabel’s third cross-border editorial project embodies how transnational journalism contributes to the creation of a real European public sphere. Following stops in Berlin and Słubice, the best photographs from the project will be displayed at Philanthropy House in Brussels before moving on to Paris.

Assembled by Cafébabel and hosted by the European Foundation Centre, the exhibition is supported by the European Policy Centre, Connecting Europe, Stiftung Mercator, Advocate Europe, Philanthropy House, Allianz Kulturstiftung, CLB Berlin, Franco-German Youth Office, and n-ost.

All of the feature reports are available in seven languages via https://beyond91.cafebabel.com

The exhibition was later hosted by Maison Heinrich Heine in Paris till the 31st January 2019.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/europeanfoundationcentre/albums/72157672892913777