Claudia Dobre
Claudia-Florentina Dobre holds a PhD in history from Laval University (Québec) since 2007
with a thesis on the memory of communist political persecution from a gender perspective. Winner of several research grants, including the Robert Schuman grant of the European Parliament (in 2007), Claudia-Florentina Dobre co-organized 10 international conferences, edited several volumes and scientific journal issues, co-directed the documentary film “Stories from Bărăgan. Memories from Romanian Siberia” (2013), published 5 author’s works and coordinated the Romanian team of the project “Knowledge Exchange and Academic Cultures in
Humanities: Europe and the Black Sea Region, late 18th-21st centuries” (KEAC-BSR project
number 734645, funded by the European Union through the Horizon2020 Marie Skłodowska-
Curie RISE program).
Post-memory and cultural trauma, clay modelling workshop and reading session coordinated by historian Claudia-Florentina Dobre;
Wednesday, January 15, 2025, starting at 4:00 p.m.
About the project: The (In)Visible Traces Artistic Memories of the Cold War project brings together artists, cultural professionals, researchers, youth, educators, and policymakers to engage in a collaborativeexploration of European cultural heritage, with a focus on the Cold War era. The project highlights the importance of preserving and recognizing historical buildings and sites that played a key role during the Cold War, many of which are now vacantor at risk of being forgotten. By combining artistic expression, research, and heritage protection, the project aims to shed light on these neglected locations. Through residencies, artistic interventions, and exhibitions such as You Betrayed the Party When You Should Have Helped It, the initiative will generate new material to stimulate reflectionon Europe’s divided past, while also advocating for the legal and physical preservation of these historical spaces.
The project seeks to protect and promote European heritage at risk, contributing to cultural dialogue and offering recommendations for safeguarding historical memory across Europe.
Program for clay modeling workshop and reading sessions in the frames of the exhibition of artist Andreja Kulunčić You Betrayed the Party Just When You Should Have Helped It, part of the project (In)Visible Traces. Artistic Memories of the Cold War, initiated by Documenta in Zagreb and organized together with the Romanian Association for Contemporary Art, Bucharest; Blockfrei, Vienna and The Bautzner Straße Dresden Memorial, Dresden.
Cultural trauma is defined by the reactions of a society as a whole to a traumatic event that has broken the community’s social ties and destroyed its sense of togetherness; communism can be considered a “cultural trauma.” Historian Claudia-Florentina Dobre coordinated a clay modelling workshop attended by descendants of political prisoners from the communist period, followed by a reading session for which Claudia has selected pages from the memoirs of former convicts.
