Friday 14th of October
18:00 - 20:00
This is the launch event for the re-imagined seminar series, Perverting the Power Vertical: Politics and Aesthetics i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶G̶l̶o̶b̶a̶l̶ ̶E̶a̶s̶t̶.
Location: Christopher Ingold Auditorium XLG2
Christopher Ingold Building
20 Gordon Street
London
WC1H 0AJ
This launch event will include a collective reading of the OCCUPY PPV Manifesto followed by a documentary screening on Ukraine's Anti-Fascists Fighting Russian Invasion and a conversation with women* Ukrainian defenders. In short presentations, a senior research fellow at SSEES UCL Kateryna Iakovlenko will speak on the topics of war, aesthetics and censorship; a Performance, Politics & Society student from Goldsmiths Vlad(a) Vazheyevskyy will address queer people joining the Ukrainian army and independent defence units.
Perverting the Power Vertical: Politics and Aesthetics in the Global East”, a “restless but rooted seminar and event platform” was established in 2018. In response to a new phase of the Russian Federation’s colonial war against Ukraine (a war which has been ongoing since 2014), PPV has been occupied by Ukrainian activists and scholars now working in London. It brings together a network of academics, artists, and activists that centres openly antifascist and antiauthoritarian voices speaking on politics & aesthetics.
Since September 2022, the platform operates under the name: OCCUPY PPV (Perverting the Power Vertical: Politics & Aesthetics i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶G̶l̶o̶b̶a̶l̶ ̶E̶a̶s̶t̶).
We strive for radical changes in Russia-centric East European Area Studies and seek knowledge production that is antifascist by nature and rooted in solidarity. We stand against the Russkiy Mir, the New East, Eurasianism and other unifying concepts that – consciously or not – instrumentalize “fraternity” to commit erasure. The “Global East” strikes us as another concept of these hyper-reductive umbrella terms. It seems far too redolent, furthermore, of the obsolete and malevolent ideology of “Eurasianism”.
The questions that OCCUPY PPV will explore include: war, aesthetics and censorship: in what way is the war shaped by its image? Can antimilitarist feminists lobby for air defence? What is antifascist architecture? Why does pacifism kill? What’s wrong with the “New East”? Homonationalism or Queer liberation? And many more.
Supported by PPV (Perverting the Power Vertical), the FRINGE Centre for the Study of Social and Cultural Complexity, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, UCL
Speakers:
Daša Anosova (UCL SSEES) is a researcher and cultural worker from Kyiv, Ukraine. She is a PhD student at the UCL SSEES. Her current research is focused on the operational strategies and aesthetic-political vocabulary developed by Ukrainian art and cultural initiatives.
Vlad(a) Vazheyevskyy (Goldsmiths) is a Ukrainian performance artist and researcher currently doing a Performance & Politics degree at Goldsmiths. In their work, they focus on decolonisation and queer liberation.
Kateryna Iakovlenko (UCL SSEES) is a visual culture researcher, journalist and writer, a Senior Research Fellow at the UCL SSEES. Her research touches upon the interconnection between art and violence, specifically, she is focusing on the role of culture during politics, transformation, and war.
Jake Hanrahan (Popular Front) is an independent journalist and documentary filmmaker based in the UK. He covers conflict, crime, and politics all over the world. Jake is the founder of Popular Front, a grassroots conflict journalism platform, and has reported from Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, southeast Turkey, Palestine, Karabakh, Peru, Hong Kong, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, and more.
Stasik (Anastasia Shevchenko) is a Ukrainian singer, actress, performer and paramedic.
Anna Ziablikova is a queer Ukrainian defender.