The project "I lived socialism" started as a website on 26th March 2004 and was the first website
for personal recollections from the socialist years in Bulgaria.
The project is based exclusively on the use of Internet (www.spomeniteni.org) as a tool and place
for storytelling and is the first of that kind in Eastern Europe.
Here you can read news about the development of the project.
The authors (writer Georgy Gospodinov, journalists Diana Ivanova and Kalin Manolov,
psychiatrist Rumen Petrov, all born in the 60s) created a webpage
(grafic designers and webmasters Galina Ivanova and Diana Leskovska, also born in the 60s)
www.spomeniteni.org where people were invited to
send their own personal stories from socialist time.
Every week 3 new stories are published on the website.
Till June 2005 155 stories have been published on-line, more than 350 have been sent,
both from Bulgarians living inside and outside Bulgaria.
The oldest narrator is 81 years old (a famous Bulgarian actor Petar Slabakov).
The youngest - 20 years old student.
Here you can see and download some stories in English.
The site is offering also a forum where people can discuss and share their opinions -
what they think about this site and socialism in general.
There is also a survey called "Emotional map" where people can describe different emotions experienced
with their own events in socialist time.
The idea of the project is to look at socialism from our
own experience and to encourage people to talk about their own feelings and experiences connected with that time.
The project got an international publicity this year -
New York Times wrote about it (November 2004) and the Vienna Institute for Human Sciences presented the project (March 2005)
Working goal for 2005:
To publish the collected stories in a book (October-November)
Aims:
To open a free space for talking about the past through personal experience
To give a platform to new and unknown voices in the debate about our socialist past and make it relevant to contemporary Bulgarians
To promote Internet as a valuable new platform for storytelling
Project team
Diana Ivanova, journalist, New Culture Foundation, born 1968 in Montana, BG
Rumen Petrov, psychotherapist, New Bulgarian University, born 1965 in Sofia, BG
Kalin Manolov, journalist, Bulgarian Society for Individual Liberty, born 1963 in Vratza, BG
Georgi Gospodivov, writer, Literaturen vestnik newspaper, born 1968 in Jambol, BG
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