How much of Europe’s colonial past still shapes the present? From the institutions we inherit to the narratives we repeat, colonial history is not a closed chapter — it is a living structure that continues to inform racism, inequality and historical amnesia across the continent.
Colonial Facts is EUROM’s new campaign to challenge the myths, silences and disinformation that surround colonial memory in Europe today. Running from September to December 2026, it will unfold through 8 historical cases, each grounded in documented facts and verified sources, built specifically to answer and dismantle discourses of disinformation.
Each case will be unveiled progressively across our social channels between September and December, and will come together on a dedicated campaign page at Reparant El Passat.
Why this campaign, why now
Europe is witnessing a growing wave of revisionist discourse around colonialism and slavery, alongside the rapid circulation of fake news and reactionary narratives on social media. At the same time, there is an urgent need to connect historical memory with antiracism and the defense of democracy — to show that how we remember the past directly shapes how we confront prejudice in the present.
Colonial Facts responds to this moment by putting historical evidence to work against disinformation, and by making memory work accessible to the audiences most exposed to online hate speech: young people navigating a digital landscape saturated with distorted narratives.
Conceptual axes
The campaign is built on three interconnected ideas:
- Decolonization as a political process — a critical review of the colonial structures still embedded in institutions, public discourse and collective imaginaries.
- Decolonization as a memorial process — the recovery of invisibilized memories and the construction of plural, honest historical narratives.
- Reparation as a tool for democratic resilience — understanding symbolic, cultural and political reparation as a mechanism to prevent hatred and strengthen democratic life.
What we aim to achieve
Colonial Facts has been designed with clear goals in mind:
- Combat racist and revisionist discourse about the colonial past.
- Counter fake news and hate speech circulating on social media.
- Connect colonial memory with democracy and the prevention of contemporary racism.
- Bring academic and memorial content closer to young audiences.
- Strengthen EUROM’s presence in digital and audiovisual spaces.
To get there, the campaign will produce a series of accessible, shareable content pieces on colonial memory, developed under a distinctive and recognizable visual identity, supported by a flexible system of reusable templates. It will also build alliances with antiracist creators and collectives — and, in doing so, help consolidate EUROM as a leading European actor on colonial memory and reparation.
Collaborations
The contents of Colonial Facts. Facing Racism with History are developed by historian Celeste Muñoz Martínez, adapted with artist Giulia Fagundes, and enriched by contributions from the collective no.mimporta, decolonial activist Chaimaa Boukharsa, and content creator Victor Germén.
A campaign that culminates in dialogue
The campaign will close with the 6th edition of Repairing the Past. Justice, Reparations and Memory, EUROM’s flagship conference on historical reparation, hosted at the Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món de Barcelona (MUEC).
Colonial Facts is co-funded by the CERV Programme and Barcelona City Council.