Within the framework of this new project, sponsored by the EU with a € 500,000 grant, we intend to start a two-year exchange between artists, poets and authors from various European countries about their experiences of the change from dictatorship to democracy, in particular after the opening of former communist countries since the end of the 1980s. In a number of meetings (held in the participating countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Italy and Germany) invited poets, writers and artists will present their work and exchange their experiences from the dictatorial/authoritarian period and show how the political changes have influenced their artistic activities. The result will be an exhibition which will start in Birmingham (UK) and then tour the participating countries. The cultural transfer resulting from this project is meant to allow the banishment of prejudices and a better understanding between Central Eastern, South Eastern and Western Europe. Ultimately it is part of the construction of a common European culture.