EUSTORY youth academy 2013 The Eustorian October 2013 GORIZIa- NOVA GORICA HIstory TWO COUNTRIES, 11 ONE CITY? REPorts EXPERIENCES THIS MAGAZINE IS A RESULT OF THE WORK OF 23 youNG PEOPLE FroM 16 COUNTRIES LIST OF CoNTENT Gorizia and Participants 04 Two Spirits, one soul EUSTORY YOUTH ACADEMY beeing at 2 places at the same time Nova Gorica 2013- Ljubjana 06 Faces which connect Let’s bring together, what belongs together? Haris Huremagic 07 The Mental Border Varenka Theunynck 07 Nova Gorcia and Gorcia Martin Mariov Vasev Two or one? Elitsa Vasileva Dimitrova Until the end of the Second World War, Gorizia was Gorica, a Slovenian 08 One City Jacob Ungar Felding town, cultural, administrative, and economical center of the region. But Divided people and a border Shila Sharifi-Khoshkroudi between them in 1947, in the framework of the Paris Peace Treaties, the new borders Mariann Rei between Italy and Yugoslavia resulted into a dramatic change: Gorica 10 Two Cities [Nova] Gorcia Noora Anniina Isomäki Does the border really matter? became Gorizia and part of Italy. The loss of the urban center of that Aurélien Stocco region on the Yugoslavian side made it necessary to build a new town. 11 The “New” Border Antonio Basilicata As a political statement and manifestation of the bipolar world order in Thorben C. Siepmann 11 Even hot chocolat is affected the second half of the 20th century, Nova Gorica was constructed right Enija Skeltona 12 A Blurred line sharp in minds on the other side of the border. A mirror? Johanne Kristensen Sandvik A deeper insight in peolpes’ minds Agnieszka Antonowicz The End of Yugoslavia and the joining of Slovenia to the EU, the opening 14 Two countries in one city Oldrich Wit Justa How two Eustorians explored a devi of the border changed the lives of the citizens of both cities – again. ded city Anna Ryzhkova Dominika Kecsöová 15 Gorzia- Nova Gorcia Since May 2011, Nova Gorica has been joined together with Gorizia in a The development and change of a Katarína Mochnacká common trans-border metropolitan zone, administered by a joint admin- city Ana Penko istration board. But how joined is the city in real life? What do the people Irene Fernández Delgado of both sides think about each other? We’ve sent out our reporters to Ramón A. Maceiras Castillo both cities. They worked in teams, one went to reasearch in Gorizia, the Tilda Inga Lynander other one in Nova Gorica with one mission: Bring back a story that can Michèle C. Steiner unite both cities in one article. Bojan Balkovec - Tina Gotthardt Carsten Bonk (guest) Tamara Cakic Tina Gotthardt Kristi Hodak 2 • EUSTORY • http://eustory.wordpress.com/ • 3 It felt strange to move OUR GrouP to another country IN TWO without leaving the CouNTIES city” AT THE SAME TIME friendship? with their daughters. They seem happy, and Italians- who will continue this special Again, the border was the reason for us to you cannot tell their identity or country. conection. split. One of us went to Nova Gorica, while In fact, they are refugees from Israel who The war, the borders and the past mean TWO SPIRIts, ONE SOUL the other visited Gorizia. have come to Slovenia with the hope of nothing for them. Overcoming barriers is In Gorizia, there are two men and a woman starting a new life. The fate has separated the obligation of their generation. that catch our attention. They seem to be them, not the border. But the border has The innocence of the children can be friends, laughing and smiling. What most brought them together. The one is living seen in their eyes. They don’t know they Can you be in two places (countries) at the same time? impresses us is that they are talking in in Italy, while the other lives in Slovenia. are already “guilty” for demolishing the Well, we thought that it was impossible. Until today. Just ask the people from Nova Gorica and Gorizia. Here is the right place to reflect Slovenian in the Italian side of the bor- They are married, one to a Slovenian man borders. This innocence can only be com- about the meaning of borders, the right place to put on a test your own vision for life. der. The first man is Italian, the second is and the other to an Italian. Their favourite pared to the rain we had that day. A Slovene. They speak both languages, that place to spend time is a tree, a special one rain that washes away prejudices. A rain We started the project with general thoughts. Are borders necessary nowadays? Are they impeding the exchange of ideas and experi- they have learned so they can go from one that remembers how they found each that cleans the consciousness. A rain that ences? Or maybe they are connecting the people in a multicolored mosaic? We were surprised at how much we actually find out. side to another of the border. The woman other again. A tree with two branches but does not admit borders. A rain that unites After the experience we had today in Nova Gorica and Gorizia, the concept of “borders” somehow changed for us. Now it is not only their is Slovene, but she works as a journalist a common root, a tree with two spirits and two spirits in one soul. Nova Gorica and geographical meaning, but the impact of their presence. Our visit made us realize that the border for this two cities (maybe one?) is an for an Italian newspaper that is written in one soul. Gorizia. opportunity to meet a different culture, not a restriction. The wise lesson that we learnt is that history and politics are putting borders, Slovenian.They really enjoy going from Both examples show friends that keep but people are constantly destroying them. one side to the other of the border to in touch and never found the border an - Irene & Martin People from both sides of this border, Nova Gorica and Gorizia, see the world united, as an unseparable family. Nobody thinks that bor- meet each other and to practice their obstacle. As the tree, their friendship and ders divide their territory. Italian and Slovenian. their marriages grown around the border. The common point in our two adventures was the topic about friendship. Can borders separate friends or are they creating a multicultural At the same time in Nova Gorica, Two different spirits enthwined in one sin- two female friends are having a nice walk gle soul. Now they have children -Slovenes 4 • EUSTORY • http://eustory.wordpress.com/ • 5 THE MENTAL BORDER n the 4th of April 2004, the thus; the border parted not only the two practically living without the border, Slovenian-Italian border republics but also the East and the West. they still felt like Slovenians. The two separating Nova Gorica and Nowadays Italians still primarily reside in ethnical groups seem to maintain their O Gorizia was opened by taking the city, but Slovenians cross the border national identity even without the bor- down the fence dividing the two nations. on a daily basis to work or visit fam- der. However, the Italians girls told us The physical barrier was removed, but ily and friends. The biggest difference that they expected a change towards a what about the mental border? is that fewer Italians go to work in the more multicultural society in which more Slovenian Nova Gorica because the pay people from the respective nationalities Nova Gorica was built after the Second is usually less. We talked to people from interacted with their neighbors. World War and was part of the Socialist both sides of the border to explore their Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was to opinions and relationship to the cities. Slovenians and Italians seem to hope for be “a city to shine across the border”, as Two Italians from Gorizia told us that they better coexistence in the future. Then local politicians said, and is to this date mostly stayed in Italy and even though Schengen agreement and the coopera- mostly populated by Slovenians. The old the border was opened, there is still a tion in the European Union might mean city of Gorizia on the other hand, was ‘mental border’ separating the cities: real progress in this issue. But even if the founded in the middle ages and was a They identified themselves as Italians, not real borders cease to exist, are we able to center of the region during the Austro- Slovenians. cross our mental borders and overcome FACES WHICH CONNECT Hungarian rule. our cultural differences? Most people in the Slovenian town nce you cross the Italian- This newspaper maintained its work until by the Italian culture. Growing up bilin- When the new city was established, thought differently: They said that they - Dominika and Jacob Slovenian border at Nova today under the name “Novi Glas” with gual makes the question of identity more Italy was a young democratic republic crossed the border daily, but despite Gorica, you´ll might notice the main purpose to point problems out, important to such people. This certain O some statues on both sides which the Slovenian minority is facing man, we talked to thinks that he can`t con- Gorizia streets are very narrow and build- of the main street “Erjavčeva ulica”. nowadays. sider Gorizia as his hometown, although it ing are old and beautiful. Some of them Designed as an alley of remembrance, is his place of birth. Thus, he doesn`t feel are have been experiencing some damage it should honor important faces of the But we do not need to talk about the like fully accepted member of the Italian NOVA GORICA during the years.