The European Observatory on Memories (EUROM) and Domestic Data Streamers have joined forces to develop Synthetic Memories. Women, Memory and Freedom, a project that seeks to preserve and reinterpret personal memories through the combined use of oral testimony and artificial intelligence.
At the centre of the project are the life stories of five women whose youth was shaped by some of the defining moments of 20th-century Europe: anti-Franco resistance and repression in Spain, exile, dictatorship, war, and the struggle for democratic freedoms. Through a series of in-depth interviews, the project documents memories that were often never photographed, yet remain deeply present in the testimonies of those who lived them.
From testimony to synthetic image
The project introduces the concept of Synthetic Memories: AI-generated visual representations created from personal recollections. Rather than attempting to produce documentary evidence, these images aim to capture the emotional and narrative essence of memories that have no photographic record.
This approach opens a new field of reflection for memory studies. If photography has historically shaped the way societies remember the past, what happens when technology can generate images of events that were never visually documented? Can AI help make invisible memories visible, or does it risk introducing new forms of interpretation and distortion?
For EUROM, the project is not only a technological experiment but also an opportunity to examine how memory, ethics, and digital culture intersect in contemporary Europe.
The women behind the project
The five testimonies presented within the project include:
- Genoveva Munell — memories shaped by anti-Franco resistance, incarceration at the torture centre of Via Laietana and La Trinitat women’s facility, and the repression of the Franco regime.
- Lola Patau — from Republican exile in Chile aboard the Winnipeg to her return to Francoist Spain in 1962.
- Montse Clavé — memories shaped by Francoist repression and the struggle for democratic freedoms.
- Alma Masic — life during the Siege of Sarajevo and the Bosnian War.
- Nora Buschmann — Nora grew up in East Berlin during the final decades of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Her memories move between the restricted geography of the Eastern Bloc, the relative openness she experienced in Hungary, and the extraordinary days surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Their stories connect personal experience with broader European processes of war, dictatorship, exile, resistance, and democratic transition.
A necessary conversation on AI and memory
Working with memory through AI can help preserve testimonies, create new forms of visual access to the past, and engage wider audiences. At the same time, it raises important questions about representation, authenticity, consent, data governance, and the ethical use of personal testimonies.
These questions are especially relevant in a context where digital technologies increasingly mediate the production and circulation of historical narratives.
Public presentation at the University of Barcelona
The project will culminate in a free public event on 1 October 2026 at the Faculty of Geography and History of the University of Barcelona.
The programme will include:
- Presentation of the project’s videos and synthetic visual reconstructions.
- A roundtable with experts in memory and public history, ethics, and the responsible use of data and testimonies in digitalisation policies.
- The keynote lecture “Artificial Intelligence and Digital Humanities” by Alberto Venegas Ramos, historian and author of Pasado Sintético.
The event aims to bring together researchers, cultural practitioners, memory organisations, students, and the wider public to discuss how emerging technologies are transforming the ways we remember, represent, and transmit the past.
Participation is free. Registration and further information will be available soon.
Acknowledgements
EUROM and Domestic Data Streamers would like to express their deepest gratitude to Genoveva Munell, Lola Patau, Montse Clavé, Alma Masic, and Nora Buschmann for the trust, generosity, and courage with which they shared their memories and made this project possible.
Funding
This project is supported by the European Union’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme and the Barcelona City Council (Ajuntament de Barcelona).