MANILA, Philippines - To commemorate the 25th anniversary of a historic year, the Embassy of the Czech Republic and Instituto Cervantes mount a photo exhibit titled “1989 as Seen by Photographers” at the Gallery of Instituto Cervantes. The exhibit, which runs starting tomorrow until Dec. 20, presents a selection of snapshots taken by photographers in those crucial days and months which changed the face of Europe forever.
The photo exhibit is a gesture of collaboration among Spain, the Czech Republic and the whole of the European Union.
Nineteen Eight-Nine will forever be immortalized as the “Year of Miracles” in Europe’s rich history, as it began the new chapter of the continent’s reunification after decades of being divided by the Iron Curtain. At present, the European Union consists of 28 countries coming from both the former Western and Eastern bloc.
Twenty-five years ago today, the world saw the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe which was brought about by the culmination of key events across various European countries — the independent elections in Hungary and Poland; the dismantling of the Berlin Wall in Germany; the Velvet Revolution in what was then Czechoslovakia; and the fall of the Ceausescu regime in Romania. As the monolithic Socialist Bloc gradually collapsed, the beginnings of a new era in Europe emerged.
The Ambassador of the Czech Republic, Jaroslav Ola Jr., and the Ambassador of Spain, H. E. Mr. Luis Calvo, will formally open the exhibit today, exactly 25 years after the peaceful student demonstration in the Czech capital, Prague, became the starting point of the Velvet Revolution, which eventually ended the communist rule in the former Czechoslovakia.
Instituto Cervantes is at 855 T.M. Kalaw, Ermita, Manila. Entrance is free.
For information, visit www.mzv.cz/manila and www.facebook.com/CzechEmbassyManila, or call 811-1155.