32 Smith Square, London SW1P 3EU
Visit the newly reopened Come With Us! – Democratic Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989 at Europe House’s 12 Star Gallery.
Conceived to evoke the atmosphere of streets and public spaces across Central and Eastern Europe, the exhibition traces the democratic transformations that followed the 1989 revolutions through a powerful selection of political posters and iconic visual material. Beginning with the first free elections of the early 1990s, it offers a compelling visual narrative of societies reclaiming political voice after decades of enforced silence.
Bringing together contributions from twelve countries — Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia — the exhibition explores themes of mass mobilisation, the reinterpretation of the past and collective aspirations for a democratic future. Few artistic forms captured the urgency and optimism of this period as directly as street posters, which became an accessible and immediate medium for political expression at a decisive historical moment.
Curator: Traian Dragan
Project Leads: Anna Huth, Lilla Farkas
Visuals: Milos Ivanov
With the support of: Bundesarchiv, Germany; Edition Staeck, Heidelberg, Germany; Estonian History Museum; Hanza Media, Croatia; Hungarian National Museum; Latvian National Museum of History; Moravian Gallery Brno, Czech Republic; Museum of the barricades of 1991, Latvia; National Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia; National Museum of Lithuania; Novi Kolektivizem Collection, Slovenia; Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom, Estonia; Visual archive of International Triennial of the Stage Poster, Bulgaria; Juraj Bartoš, Slovakia (author); Jacek Marczewski, Poland (author); Monika Sarnecka, Poland (relative of the author)
The exhibition is open on weekdays, 10.00–18.00 GMT, at 32 Smith Square, London SW1P 3EU.