The Goddess of Democracy was a 10-meter-tall (33 ft) statue created during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in Beijing, China. The statue was constructed in only four days out of foam and papier-mâché over a metal armature. The constructors decided to make the statue as large as possible so the government would be unable to dismantle it. The government would either have to destroy the statue—an action which would potentially fuel further criticism of its policies—or leave it standing. Despite these efforts, the statue was destroyed by soldiers clearing the square of protesters, but has been copied a number of times.
Catalin Mitulescu, ‘Cum mi-am petrecut sfarsitul lumii’ (The way I spent the end of the world) (2006)
Tragi-comic coming-of-age tale, set in 1989 Romania, which follows 17 year old Eva and her younger brother Lilu. After knocking down a bust of Ceausescu by accident, Eva is sent to a technical school where she meets Andrei, with whom she plans to escape communist Romania by swimming across the Danube into Yugoslavia and relocate to Italy. Meanwhile, Lilu and his friends volunteer for a children’s choir scheduled to sing for Ceausescu, hoping this will give them a chance to assassinate the dictator.
