On 5 November 2019, the College of Europe in Natolin had the pleasure to host H.E. Dr Emil BRIX, Director of the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna for a special lecture entitled:
“Present-day Politics of Cultural Memory in Europe. The Big Picture.”
Fighting about cultural memory has always been a constituent element of collective identity building in Europe. How different are "cultural memory wars" in a new Europe? Is it true that since the end of the Cold War "history is back in town" and what is the role of politics of memory to legitimize and question political structures in Europe today? Narratives about Europe, the European Union and about European nation states compete for dominance on a continent which seems to thrive on contested "places of memory". The lecture addressed selected uses of "politics of cultural memory" (East-West, Central Europe, The Russian World) in international relations in Europe.
About the speaker:
Emil BRIX, Austrian diplomat and historian, is the Director of the Diplomatische Akademie Wien – Vienna School of International Studies since 2017. After joining the Austrian diplomatic service in 1982, Mr BRIX worked as political secretary for the parliamentary group of the Austrian People’s Party. In 1986, he was appointed Head of Cabinet at the Ministry of Science and Research. From 1990 until 1995, Mr BRIX served as Austrian Consul General in Cracow, Poland. Subsequently, he was Director of the Austrian Cultural Institute in London, a position he held for four years. In 2002, Mr BRIX was appointed Director-General of Foreign Cultural Policy at the Ministry for European and International Affairs of Austria. After serving five years as the Austrian Ambassador to the UK, he became Austrian Ambassador to the Russian Federation in 2015. He holds a PhD from the University of Vienna and was awarded Dr hc. by the University of Drohobytsch, Ukraine and by the University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. He is an alumnus of the Diplomatische Akademie Wien and published numerous books and articles on Austrian and European history of the 19th and 20th century.
Participation for external guests by invitation only. For more information, please contact Ms Aleksandra BRODOWSKA.