Farewell to Arms. Welcome the Memories

Ljubljana, Nova Gorica, Maribor and Celje, 7 March 2012 – The 100th anniversary of the First World War is approaching. In the context of the pan-European project dubbed Europeana 1914-1918, we will be collecting documents and memories of WWI in Slovenia. The first collection event will take place on 28 March 2012 from 9:00 to 18:00 in the France Bevk Public Library/Goriška knjižnica Franceta Bevka in Nova Gorica. Two more are scheduled to follow: in Maribor and in Celje.

The aim of the project is to encourage people to discover their ancestors' memories, photographs

and objects and offer the chance to have them digitised for the first European online archive of

private WWI memories. For the upcoming 100th anniversary, we want to store and preserve valuable

documents for future generations, digitise them and make them publicly accessible at the portal

www.europeana1914-1918.eu.

Family Memorabilia Collection Days in Slovenia

Following last year's successful realisation in Germany, the project is now set to launch in other

European countries as well. Three of the events where objects will be collected and digitised will

take place in Slovenia. The first event is scheduled for 28 March in the France Bevk Public Library in

Nova Gorica. Two more will follow: on 19 April in Maribor and on 23 May in Celje. The National and

University Library is in charge of coordinating the project in Slovenia.

Jill Cousins, Executive Director of Europeana, says: "The Family Memorabilia Collection Days are

more important than we usually imagine for the European collective memory and for our future."

"Although families of soldiers keep their memories and stories for some time, their significance begins

to fade with the passing of a century. That is why our online archive is important as it collects

documents from across the whole of Europe."

"For everyone participating in the creation of the Family Memorabilia Collection Day in Nova Gorica,

the event holds a particular significance, considering that Hemingway documented the activities on

the Isonzo Front in his novel A Farewell to Arms. Project Background.

The Europeana portal is a European digital library, archive and museum. Primarily financed by the

European Commission, Europeana was first presented to the public in November 2008. Today, the

portal holds over 20 million documents, with materials being contributed by over 1500 libraries,

archives, museums and audio/video archives. It receives over 3 million visitors annually.

Europeana 1914-1918 is part of the Europeana Awareness project. Launched in Germany in 2011, the

goal of the project was to collect memories and family stories from WWI battles and their

background. Over 25,000 digital memories were collected in Germany: personal diaries, hand-drawn

maps, portraits and sketches.

This year, the project is further expanding in Europe and memories will be collected in Luxembourg,

the UK, Ireland, Slovenia, Denmark and Belgium over the next few months. The ultimate goal of the

project is to prepare a clear pan-European virtual archive of WWI.

In collaboration with Europeana, the European Commission will preserve the memory of the

Collection Days by recording them on film. This will be broadcast on 9 May in Brussels as part of the

Europeana Big Bang event during a ministerial meeting hosted by European Commission President

Jose Manuel Barroso and senior EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

In Slovenia, the project is co-financed by the European Commission and the Ministry of Education,

Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia.

The partners of Europeana 1914-1918 in Slovenia include: Europeana, the University of Oxford, the

National and University Library, the France Bevk Public Library, the Celje Central Library, the

Slovenian Military Museum and Facts & Files. Avanta is the communication partner for the project in

Slovenia.

We will hold a press conference at the presentation of Europeana 1914-1918 in Slovenia. The

conference will take place in the City Museum of Ljubljana Café on 21 March 2012 at 12:00.

For more about the project, please visit:

http://www.europeana1914-1918.eu/sl

http://www.europeana1914-1918.eu/en/contributions/212

For more press information, please contact:

Nina Tomov, Avanta

Email: nina.tomov@avanta.si

Telephone: +386 (0)1 200 79 85