WDEC 2026 at the Inner Neustadt Cemetery

On 28 May 2026, a film screening by renowned artist Natalia Bougai took place at Inner Neustadt Cemetery in Dresden, Germany.

About the event

As part of the Week of Discovering European Cemeteries 2026, the organization Women In Remembrance Culture e.V. (WIRC) hosted a special event — a film screening by the renowned artist Natalia Bougai — on 28 May 2026 at 19:00 at the Inner Neustadt Cemetery (Friedensstraße 2, 01097 Dresden, Germany).

Natalia Bougai grew up in Central Russia and Ukraine and studied History and German Studies, as well as Artistic Photography and Media Art, at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts (HGB). In her project d wie dora (“d as in Dora”), she embarked on a deeply personal search for traces of her own identity within the mementos left behind by concentration camp prisoners during the Second World War.

Based on surviving autobiographical novels, testimonies, and diaries written by former prisoners, the film presented their thoughts exclusively in textual form. In the film, Bougai’s reflections on place, time, and her own presence within them transformed into mirror images of her inner world: “A silent conspiracy of the speakers with themselves, to preserve their self-determination and dignity.”

Following the screening, a panel discussion exploring the film’s themes and historical context took place. The entire event lasted approximately one hour.

For additional information or questions, please contact naito@wirc.network.

AGM 2025 report

On 4 September 2025, the ASCE Annual General Meeting took place in Dresden, Germany, organized by Women in Remembrance Culture (WIRC).

Over 60 participants joined the meeting and members' attendance quorum requirement was reached in the second call.

The AGM was preceded by Mrs Lidija Pliberšek, president of ASCE, and all steering committee members were present or gave proxy to other members. During the AGM several things were outlined and discussed:

1.Introduction

• Welcome speech by ASCE president, Mrs Lidija Pliberšek.

2.Presidency and Steering Committee activities 2024/2025

• Steering Committee meetings and sessions
• AGM 2024 in Budapest, Hungary
• European Cemeteries Route received the Best Practice Award 2024
• Attendance at the All-Slovenian Cultural Routes meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Attendance at the International Conference on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in Nova Gorica, Slovenia
• Attendance at the Conference Cemeteries and Other Spaces of Democratic Memory in Barcelona, Spain
• Attendance at the 12th Training Academy on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in Torres Vedras, Portugal
• Regular cooperation in the field of sustainable cemetery management with the Chamber of Public Utilities of Slovenia
• Attendance at the European heritage day in Oslo: At home in Europe.
• Charter development

3. Financial report and budget

4. ASCE administration and European Cemeteries Route activities 2024/2025

• Administration and presidency work overview
• IT maintainance and development:
• Improving communications channels
• Updating members data
• AGMs and Conference support
• Projects support
• ARTOUR development
• Cultural routes cooperation

5. Projects and activities

• Significant cemeteries for sustainable Europe:
• 2024: Sustainable cities and communities
• 2025: Peace, justice and strong institutions
• 2026: Quality education
• Week of Discovering European Cemeteries 2025: Gardens of 80
• Schools on cemeteries
• Peace tree
• Scientific work
• Communications

6. New members and significant cemeteries

7. AGM 2026: from 18 to 20 June in Turin, Italy

8. Conclusions

Members engaged in various debates on topics during and after the AGM, confirming the report and plans for the future work of ASCE. 

AGM materials

The detailed program and AGM presentation are available at this link. Photos, videos, and additional materials from the event will be released over the coming weeks.

AGM 2025: Sign up and Program

Registration is now open for the Annual General Meeting and Conference 2025. Check out the draft program!

Basic information

The AGM and Conference 2025 will be held from 4 to 6 September in Dresden, Germany, at multiple locations, with the main conference venue being the Kulturrathaus Dresden (Königstrasse 15, 01097 Dresden).

The gala dinner will be held at Eventlocation Kasematte by Convea Dresden (Hasenberg 1, 01067 Dresden), with the entrance to the vaulted casemates located at Am Hasenberg, opposite the New Synagogue.  

Participation in the cultural program on Thursday, 4 September, is optional and includes a boat trip departing from Sächsische Dampfschifffahrt (Terrassenufer 1, 01067 Dresden), as well as an excursion to the Heidefriedhof cemetery (Moritzburger Landstraße 299, 01127 Dresden), and dinner at Biergarten ElbeGarten (Friedrich-Wieck-Straße 18, 01326 Dresden).

REGISTRATION DEADLINE for Boat trip & Künstlerfriedhof Loschwitz: 15 August 2025.

The organizer of the event is “Women in Remembrance Culture (WIRC)”, from Dresden. For any questions or additional information please contact Valérie Madoka Naito at naito@wirc.network.

Conference theme

This year’s ASCE Annual Conference, themed "Future through Remembrance", invites participants to explore innovative ways of communicating cemetery heritage, especially in the context of WWII remembrance. The program will focus on storytelling, digital tools, partnerships, and strategies to bring cemetery stories to life and ensure they reach and resonate with wider audiences.

More about the conference theme at this LINK.
View the full conference program HERE.

How to register for the event

Registration for the AGM and Conference 2025 is possible only by using the following sign up form. If you wish to register more than one person, the form must be completed for each person separately. In order to ensure the smooth running of the event, the number of participants is limited.

Sign up deadline: 15 August 2025

➤ SIGN UP FORM

Details on fees and payment

To participate in the AGM and Conference, it is necessary to pay a registration fee. After completing the sign-up, each registered participant will receive a confirmation email and a separate email with payment instructions for the registration fee.

Estimated price list:

• Students - free (with a valid student ID card)
• ASCE members - 40€/person
• All others - 80€/person

The registration fee will be valid for the entire 2-day event program (Friday and Saturday), including the participation at the Conference, snacks and coffee breaks, gala dinner, and the excursion to the Cemetery Heidefriedhof.

The registration fee does not include the optional cultural program on Thursday (boat trip,  Künstlerfriedhof Loschwitz visit and dinner at  ElbeGarten beer garden).

AGM and Conference program

Program presented is a draft version and may be subject to changes or additions. Please consult our website regularly for the latest information.

You can view the details of individual parts of the program by clicking on the part that interests you.

You can click on this link (iCal) to add the program to your personal calendar.

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WDEC 2025 in Dresden

As part of WDEC 2025, the Inner Neustadt Cemetery in Dresden will host a special evening featuring a screening of the documentary GOING TO ÚSTÍ and an artist’s talk with Pastor Björn Fischer.

About the event

On the evening of May 29, 2025, from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM, the Inner Neustadt Cemetery in Dresden will host a special screening of the documentary GOING TO ÚSTÍ, followed by an artist’s talk with Pastor Björn Fischer. The event, organized by Women In Remembrance Culture, invites the public to reflect on forgotten histories, cultural memory, and the role of art in dealing with the past.

The documentary follows Dresden artist Susan Donath, who has been engaged with sepulchral culture for many years. In this short film, she is accompanied by documentary filmmaker Valérie Madoka Naito as she takes care of a German-Czech grave in the Střekov Cemetery in Ústí nad Labem, which she has been tending as part of an art project since 2008.

About the Střekov Cemetery

The Střekov Cemetery, the largest cemetery in Ústí nad Labem (Czech Republic), is divided into two areas: well-tended graves of the Czech population and crypts of the former German population. This division is particularly evident on the western wall of the cemetery. In the 19th century, crypts were built there, most of which were sold or leased to the German population until the beginning of the 20th century. In the wake of political events – the Munich Agreement of 1938 with the incorporation of the Sudeten German territories, the occupation of Bohemia by the German Wehrmacht in 1939 and the Second World War – the German population was expelled after 1945.

For the cemetery, this meant that almost all German graves had not been tended or maintained by their owners since 1945. The cemetery administration took care of the graves on a temporary basis. To this day, the question of what will happen to the graves remains unanswered.

Additional information

Contact person:

• Valérie Madoka Naito (naito@wirc.network)

Websites:

• www.wirc.network
• www.naito.eu
• www.susandonath.com
• www.die-bilder-kommen-zurück.com
• www.neustaedter-friedhoefe.de

Social media:

• @donath_susan 

Photos from the event

AGM 2025: Accommodation in Dresden

Accommodation options for the AGM 2025, taking place in Dresden, Germany, from 4 to 6 September.

Event date and locations

This year's AGM and Conference will take place from 4 to 6 September 2025 in Dresden, Germany.

The event will take place in the Kulturrathaus – a cultural center located at Königstraße 15, 01097 Dresden, Germany.

Conference theme

This year ASCE’s annual conference will focus on the theme "Future through Remembrance". Against the background of the end of World War II we want to focus on communication and interaction. You can find all the details HERE.

Accommodation suggestions

Participants are responsible for arranging their own accommodation for the AGM. To make this process as easy as possible, we have prepared a list of recommended hotels near the event venue. The list is available at the link below, where you can also make your reservation.

Nonetheless, staying at one of these hotels is not required. You are free to use booking platforms to find other accommodation options that better suit your needs.

➤ MAKE YOUR RESERVATION

ASCE Conference 2025: Call for papers

The theme of this year's conference is "Future through Remembrance". Presentation abstracts should be submitted by May 5, 2025.

Conference theme: Future through Remembrance

This year ASCE’s annual conference will focus on the theme "Future through Remembrance", a challenging subject for all the participants in the cemetery's heritage field. Against the background of the end of World War II we want to focus on communication and interaction.

• Get started transforming stories from your cemetery.
• Get your cemetery story told.
• Use IT and social media.
• Not get lost in your cemetery story archive.
• Find partners for your storytelling project.
• Finance your cemetery art or film project.
• Be strong in realizing your cemetery story project against all odds.

For more information about the content and about proposed ideas for the authors please find attached the link to a project on the victims of violence and war in Dresden’s cemeteries that has just been published by rhetorical City of Dresden: https://www.dresdner-friedhoefe.de.

Conference dates and location

The Conference will take place on Friday and Saturday, September 5-6, 2025, in Dresden, Germany.
The venue and event program will be released in the following weeks.

Proposals

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words summarising your intended paper no later than Monday, May 5, 2025, by using the following form.

FORM FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS

Accepted authors will be notified by June 15, 2025.

Conference papers

Presentations should last no longer than 15 minutes, excluding questions.

We are seeking speakers with practical knowledge or experience who can communicate interesting and diverse presentations to the international audience.

The conference language is English. 

Editorial board

• Prof. Thomas Kübler, phd
• Ian Dungavell, phd
• Andreea Pop, phd
• Ioanna Paraskevopoulou, phd

Further information

For any questions, please contact Andreea Pop at andreea@significantcemeteries.org.

AGM 2025: Save the date

This year's AGM and Conference will take place from 4 to 6 September 2025 in Dresden, Germany.

About the AGM and Conference

Each year, the Annual General Meeting attracts over 100 cemetery academics, artists and professionals from all over Europe. It generates a lot of public attention and through the conference helps expose important topics on cemetery's history, art, architecture, cultural heritage, sustainability, management, and future trends.

AGM 2025 in Dresden

After 20 years, the ASCE Annual General Meeting and Conference will once again be held in Germany, this time in the historic and vibrant city of Dresden.

Mark your calendars from 4 to 6 September 2025, and join us for an inspiring program filled with engaging discussions, cultural highlights, and meaningful networking opportunities.

A call for papers, as well as all the details about the event program, accommodation, and other logistics, will be released in the coming months, so don't forget to check our website for updates.

We look forward to seeing you in September, at the AGM 2025.

ASCE presidency

Discover Dresden

WDEC 2023 at the Inner Neustadt Cemetery

We invite you to a presentation of three short films that will take place at the Inner Neustadt Cemetery in Dresden, Germany.

On Friday, 26 May 2023, at 7pm, a presentation of three short films will take place at the Inner Neustadt Cemetery, carried out by Valérie Madoka Naito.

The films that will be presented are:

1. "Death Never Dies" from Valérie Madoka Naito. It is a film essay from 2011 about a Cemetery at Dillingen Saar and starts with the story of a man who has just returned in 1956 from Russian captivity and finds his name on this graveyard.

2. "Agnosis" from Anita Müller. The film was awarded the German Short film prize in 2012 in Munich. The experimental film is about a student in Odessa who descends into the familiar catacombs of a former mine to meditate on Orthodox Christmas Day 2012. Since then, he has disappeared without a trace.

3. "Dead At The Moment" from Thomas Wendrich. The film won 1st prize at Interfilm Festival Berlin in 2004. It tells the story of strong-minded hillbillies in a cross-generational comedy. The characters reveal to us in a farmer's kitchen with a mischievous wink that the family has recently had to cope with small and larger catastrophes, disappointments, and setbacks in life. The main character, the slightly age-addled farmer Franz, is still so strong in his senses that he can enjoy the "autumn sun" of his life.

You can find more information about the event at www.naito.eu.