Bratislava to unveil a November 1989 Memorial on the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution

The ceremonial unveiling of the November 1989 Memorial will take place in the presence of personalities from November 1989 as well as the public on Monday, 17 November, at 4:30 p.m., with Martin Geišberg playing several songs live at the venue starting at 4:00 p.m. The programme will feature speeches by Matúš Vallo, the Mayor of Bratislava; Barbara Henterová, the administrator of the Slovenská sporiteľňa Foundation; and Ján Budaj, the initiator of the November 1989 memorial and tribune, as well as personalities of the November 1989 events, Martin Bútora and Zuzana Mistríková, and Katarína Batková, representative of the Platform for Democracy. Songs associated with the Velvet Revolution will also be performed, and at the end, at 5:11 p.m., Zuzana Mauréry will perform the song Modlitba pre Martu as a symbolic connection with Prague in memory of the courage of the people who managed to overthrow the oppressive regime. The commemorative programme originated in cooperation with the Bratislava Culture and Information Centre (BKIS), which this year is also consolidating events in Bratislava closely related to the events of 17 November on the web platform Velvet promenade ↗︎.

The first dignified monument in the capital commemorating the key events that led to the change of regime was created on the initiative of the Memorial Initiative and in cooperation with the city of Bratislava and the Slovenská sporiteľňa Foundation.

Said Matúš Vallo, the Mayor of Bratislava:

“We are not defined only by the past, but also by how we take an interest in our surroundings today, and how we cultivate our society together. This is where the power that can do a lot comes from. Let the November 1989 Memorial remind us that such power is still within us and give us the courage to use it."

In the words of Barbara Henterová, administrator of the Slovenská sporiteľňa Foundation, November 1989 brought us all a better life, prosperity and freedom.

Barbara Henterová added:

“Therefore, it is our duty to remember it, celebrate it and teach the youngest generations about it. I’m exceedingly proud that it was our foundation that contributed to the fact that after 36 years this – without a doubt one of the most significant moments in our history – has its first monument. I believe that it could also become an inspiration for the creation of other monuments to the Velvet Revolution across Slovakia."

The work, with its construction, recalls the power of a peaceful crowd that resisted political pressure and managed to force the desired changes in the system without the use of violence. The protesting crowd is symbolised by bronze footprints located on the top of a concrete monoblock protruding into space. Its front side shows the inscription “1989” in bronze and on the pavement in front of the monoblock is the inscription “NOVEMBER” in stucco and pigmented.

The monument is located on Námestie slobody, one of the central spaces of the rallies November in 1989.

Adds historian Radoslav Ragač, director of the Centre for Research on the Period of Non-Freedom at the Nation’s Memory Institute:

“The installation of the monument to the revolution on this square will also be a symbolic gesture of the victory of democracy over totalitarian power, since a sculptural group of Klement Gottwald was originally installed on this square and later ironised with inscriptions, painted over, covered up and finally physically removed in 1990."

The winning design for the monument comes from Branislav Lackovič, Emanuel Zatlukaj and Jakub Trajter, whose work was the result of a public competition. The expert jury appreciated its symbolic legacy, modern artistic processing and dignified integration into the space of Námestie slobody.

The monument will over time be supplemented with an information board with a link to web City art ↗︎, which will provide visitors with architectural information about the work. The board will also display a QR code through which historical context and personal memories of the actors of the revolution are available on the website FREEDOM IS YOURS.