kuda.org announces: webinars A LEXICON OF DECOLONIALITY IN EASTERN EUROPE: How to Decolonise an Art Organization? February 18th & 19th, 2022 from 16 – 21h
A LEXICON OF DECOLONIALITY IN EASTERN EUROPE: How to Decolonise an Art Organization?
February 18th & 19th, 2022 from 16 – 21h (CET) via Zoom platform
The webinars on A Lexicon of Decoloniality in Eastern Europe: How to Decolonise an Art Organization? is a continuation of a long-term research project entitled Art Organization initiated by kuda.org in 2017. The issues we have encountered in our collaboration, including misunderstandings about how things used to be in the Yugoslav period and what came after, made clear the need for a more complex approach to various forms and manifestations of colonial and neo-colonial heritage, as well as an up-to-date anticolonial and decolonial stance for the semi-periphery of Europe if this or any other project is to continue.
In Serbia, reasoned anticolonial critique of knowledge production in academia, art and local activism has been generously shared for years by the anti-racist theorist Jelena Savić, in essays published in Serbian and English, on her blog and social media, but also in local media outlets and academic books. Nevertheless, the resistance to de- and anti-colonial criticism and knowledge production remains enormous and misinterpretations ubiquitous at all points on the political spectrum, on the right, among liberals, and on the left. This resistance feeds on reactionary politics, the opportunistic stances of those whose careers and jobs depend upon the perpetuation of (neo)colonial politics and practices, as well as on inexcusable ignorance.
On a broader scale, there have been many recent events and publications worldwide about colonialism, neo-colonialism, anti-colonialism and (horizontal) decoloniality in Eastern Europe. A lot has been done to show ambivalences and contradictions of Eastern Europe’s “epistemic in-betweenness”. These conversations demonstrated, among other things, the difficulties in translating terminology made available by postcolonial studies of European empires to local contexts, making apparent the necessity of inventing new concepts that speak to local situations. The terms of the debate have been created and recreated, demonstrating how “inventing” terms of debate is not an easy task. A special challenge lies in the translation of decolonial speech from and to different languages we use.
This Lexicon-in-progress aspires to derive meaning from referring to local Eastern European experiences and creating from them an index of reference that can assist in future criticisms, debates and practices. To get this process underway, we have invited sixteen contributors taking an active part in these discussions. They have suggested sixteen notions they find constructive in these conversations. The lexicon is by no means set in stone—its entries are suggested concepts and definitions offered up for critical examination. These notions concern broader contextual issues, issues related to struggles, and issues related to art organization.
The four webinars will take place on February 18th and February 19th, in two sessions on each date, the first one starting at 16:00h CET and the second at 19:00h CET.
February 18th 16:00h (CET)
Zoom link, Meeting ID: 860 2420 6351, Passcode: 745562
Danijela Majstorović Peripheral Self
Jelena Savić Drunken Whites
Ivana Pražić Performative Solidarity
Eszter Szakács Independence
February 18th 19:00h (CET)
Zoom link, Meeting ID: 810 4056 6863, Passcode: 329599
Živka Valiavičarska Restless History
Piro Rexhepi “Raceless” Region
Ana Sladojević Anticolonial Museum
Emina Bužinkić Research with Refugees
February 19th 16:00h (CET)
Zoom link, Meeting ID: 879 6376 9018, Passcode: 486477
Manuela Boatcă Unequal Europes
Bojana Videkanić Nonaligned Modernism
Ovidiu Țichindeleanu Intimate Colonization
Čarna Brković Humanitarianism
February 19th 19:00h (CET)
Zoom link, Meeting ID: 892 9880 2115, Passcode: 960140
Veda Popovici Disavowal
Zoltán Gineli Transcoloniality
Lukasz Stanek (Socialist) Worldmaking
Erin McElroy Techno-imperialism
Editor of the Lexicon and moderator Ana Vilenica
Production kuda.org
Talks will be conducted in English.
Activities are funded through support of FfAI Foundation and International Relief Fund for Organisations in Culture and Education 2021 of the German Federal Foreign Office, the Goethe-Institut and other partners: www.goethe.de/relieffund.