Tuesday, 24 February, 6–8 pm, Gallery Augusta

Last year Ukraine saw protests, revolution, and a counter-revolution from abroad. This presentation focuses on the European essence of the peoples’ uprising called Maidan, the functioning of public institutions in the revolutionary situation, under conditions of war and occupation, as well as on the connections between symbolic and real violence and its influence on political processes in Ukrainian society. During the events on the Maidan, the political and revolutionary power of visual images was consistently realized. The phenomenon of the Maidan can be considered a “visual revolution”. Through the implementation of discursive, visual and artistic instruments, this presentation conceptualizes the strategies for the inclusion of the emancipatory potential of the Maidan into the structural changes of Ukrainian society.

The film Integration by Oleksiy Radynski will be screened as part of the presentation. Based on months of observation of the public manifestations during the uprising on the Maidan, the film questions the connection between democracy and violence, as well as political action and religious ritual.

The talk will be moderated by Curator Marita Muukkonen of Perpetuum Mobile. The talk is being organised in collaboration with HIAP and Perpetuum Mobile.

Vasyl Cherepanyn (b. 1980, Ukraine) is the Head of Visual Culture Research Center and an editor of the Political Critique magazine (Ukrainian edition). He works as a senior lecturer at the Cultural Studies Department of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and holds a Ph.D. in philosophy (specialisation – aesthetics). He also has worked as a guest lecturer at the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Political Critique in Warsaw, Poland and at the Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald of the Greifswald University, Germany.

Visual Culture Research Center (VCRC) was founded in 2008 as a platform for collaboration between academic, artistic, and activist communities. VCRC is an independent initiative which is engaged in publishing and artistic activities, scientific research, organization of public lectures, discussions, and conferences. In 2015 Visual Culture Research Center received the European Cultural Foundation’s Princess Margriet Award.