Performative Transformations: Politics through the Arts

Performative Transformations: Politics through the Arts
One-day Academic-Art Discussion Platform will open at 11:00 until 17:55 at University of Tartu Narva College (Raekoja plats 2, Narva) on November 13, 2019

With Flo Kasearu, Sasha Kremenets, Andrei Ivanov, Marina Koreshkova, Andrei Khvostov, and Sergey Tsvetkov

This one-day session is part of a year-long project run by the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies of the University of Tartu in cooperation with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Estonia aimed at commemorating the 30-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (FallBerlinWall#30).

This series of events under the purview of this project takes a comprehensive look at the events in 1989 (and those that led to them) and what they mean for Estonians, Germans, and Europeans today. Events are held in Tartu and Narva to ensure that multilingual and multicultural audiences are reached. Aiming to establish new networks in civil society between Germany and Estonia as well as within the Estonian society, the project brings in experts of border studies, contemporary opinion leaders, public persons, and witnesses of the fall of Berlin wall for discussions with counterparts. Previous events of the project have included seasonal schools for international students and an academic conference, all of which were devoted to discussions on how multiple borders and boundaries – geopolitical, civilizational, economic, ideological or cultural – resonate in contemporary public debates and shape our perceptions of politics.

The event in Narva is the last of the project activities, entitled “Performative Transitions: Politics through the Arts”, is designed as a meeting point of academic and cultural interpretations of the multiple transformations transpiring in Estonia and Europe since the end of the Cold War and affecting the current debates on identity, security, nationalism, inclusion and exclusion. The venue of “Performative Transitions”, the city of Narva, symbolically exemplifies the salience of various border-related contexts known for their geopolitical implications. It is our aim at this session to bridge the gaps between academic discourses and artistic imageries and to promote alternative visions of Europe’s borderlands as they are embedded in artistic representations of much discussed issues of language, integration, and neighbourhood.

The event consists of several workshops each focused on a specific theme, led by an invited artist and moderated by a University academic.

The event will take place on Wednesday, 13 November from 11:00 to 17:55 at University of Tartu Narva College (Narva, Raekoja plats 2, room 200).

Programme

Please register for the event at this link.

More information from George Spencer Terry at +372 5393 3044 or [email protected]