Promesas de Bucarest

On 21 December 1989 Nicolae Ceaușescu gave what would be the last of his customary speeches from the balconies of the “Palace of the People”. His promises to improve living conditions were a desperate attempt to calm the longing of the fervent crowd that was crying out for freedom.

The House of the People was a symbol of the power and oppression of Ceaușescu’s regime. Part of Bucharest’s historic centre was razed to build it, requiring the demolition of more than 7,000 homes, twelve churches, three monasteries and two synagogues, among other buildings. It thus continued the policy of mass destruction intended to modernise the country in both rural and urban areas. It was a true exercise in destroying and erasing the collective memory of a country, and of Bucharest in particular.

We walked along the wall and the security zone surrounding the Palace of the People. Over its images we have printed some of the promises the dictator announced from his balconies: populist promises and messages, amid collective amnesia, with which he tried to dazzle the masses and perpetuate himself in power.

— Carlos Suárez