Mehrzahl Moderne V – A Frightened Modernity: Language, Politics, and Identity in Belarusian Cultural Projects of the 1920s and 1930s
New lecture series: “Mehrzahl Moderne. An Introduction to the Intertwined Histories of Central and Eastern Europe”
Fifth event: lecture titled. „A Frightened Modernity: Language, Politics, and Identity in Belarusian Cultural Projects of the 1920s and 1930s”
Anna Karpenko followed by a commentary from Dr Olga Shparaga (FernUniversität in Hagen).
19 JUNE, 18.00 | Pariser Platz 4A, 10117 Berlin
The event will take place in English and German. Contributions in both languages will be simultaneously interpreted into the respective other language.
The history of Belarusian modernity is marked by profound ambivalences. While the 1920s are often regarded as a period of cultural and national revival, they also witnessed the emergence of increasing political repression directed against Belarusian culture. The lecture explores various cultural projects from this era, when Belarusian national and cultural identity was challenged both by the Soviet East and by the West.
Drawing on the history of the avant-garde in Vitebsk, the work of the art historian Mykola Shchekotikhin, and the activities of the first Institute of Belarusian Culture (InBelKult), she examines the diverse attempts to develop an independent cultural modernity. At the same time, the lecture addresses how European modernism was received and transformed in Eastern Europe, and why Belarus is often described as a place that never fully experienced “modernity.”
Anna Karpenko was born in Minsk (Belarus) and lives in Berlin and Münster (Germany). She is a curator and author. She is currently working as a research assistant at Skulptur Projekte 2027.
Karpenko studied Philosophy at Belarusian State University (Minsk), Visual Studies at European Humanities University (Vilnius), and Curatorial Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts (Leipzig). Additionally, she is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA). As a curator, she has organized exhibitions and research projects with ifa Gallery (Berlin), Badischer Kunstverein (Karlsruhe), Museum of Contemporary Art, GfZK (Leipzig), Halle 14 (Leipzig), Museum Sztuki (Lodz), Gallery Arsenal (Bialystok), Labirynth Gallery (Lublin), Future Laboratory (Luxembourg) and others. As an author, her texts have been published in Springerin magazine, BLOCK magazine, Dwutygodnik, RTV magazine, Magazyn SZUM, Kulturaustausch magazine, and Berlin Art Link.
Lecture series “Mehrzahl moderne: An Introduction to the Intertwined Histories of Central and Eastern Europe”
The Pilecki Institute Berlin and the Public History department at the FernUniversität in Hagen are jointly exploring how the recent histories of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus can be narrated as part of European history. How can the historical experiences of these societies be recounted without perpetuating historical notions of asymmetry, backwardness and superiority? One answer to this question is to understand modernity as a plurality of diverse, interwoven processes. An awareness of the region’s polyphony, complexity and interdependence enables us to sharpen our focus on the so-called periphery. By placing its past at the centre, we remind ourselves that the future of Europe is being decided today in Ukraine.
Curators of the Mehrzahl Moderne series are Prof. Felix Ackermann and Dr. Małgorzata Jędrzejczyk.
