Participants
Congress and Workshops
Anna Agafonova, studied Translation of German and English at the Faculty for Foreign Languages of Donetsk National University. From 2012 to 2013, she was fellow at the Carl Friedrich Goerdeler-College for Good Governance of German Society for Foreign Affairs, Berlin (scholarship of Robert Bosch Foundation). Currently she is Master student of Economics and International Studies at the Friedrich-Alexander University Nuremberg. From 2013 to 2014 she was coordinating public relations for the project “Energy Efficient and Climate Friendly Modernization of Industry”, Donetsk Region (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, GIZ). Since 2011, Anna Agafonva has acted as a Сonsultant for the Creative Industry Development project of the Foundation Izolyatsia, DonetskKiev (www.izolyatsia.org).
Yevgenia Belorusets is an Ukrainian photographer, artist and writer who lives and works in Berlin (Germany) and in Kiev (Ukraine). She is the founder of the journal for literature and art “Prostory” (since 2008) and a member of the curatorial group "Hudrada" since 2009. She works with video, photography, installation, on the intersection of art, literature and social activism. She is an activist in a number of social initiatives, including the Art workers' self-protection Initiative. She has taken part in a number of Ukrainian and international exhibitions in the context of social critique and socially engaged art.
Andriy Bondar is a poet from Ukraine. He studied history and literary theory at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. In 1998 he published his first collection of poems, “Vesinnia yeres” (“Spring heresy”), followed by “Istyna i med” (2001, “Truth and honey”) and “Prymityvni formy vlasnosti” (2004, “Primitive forms of ownership”), “Pisni Pisni” (2014, “Songs Songs”) and book of short stories “Morkviany Lid” (2012, “Carrot Ice”) as well as numerous stories, essays and articles for various magazines. He is well-known in Ukraine as a translator from Polish and English. He was an editor of multilingual Facebook community “Eurolution.Doc (Ukraine on Maidan)” from January to April of 2014.
Vasyl Cherepanyn is the Head of Visual Culture Research Center in Kyiv which was founded in 2008 as a platform for collaboration between academics, artists and activists. The Center was recently awarded with the Princess Margriet Prize of the European Cultural Foundation. Cherepanyn is co-editor of the “Political Critique” magazine (Ukrainian edition), the largest Eastern European liberal network of institutions and activists. 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 (specialization – aesthetics). Also he worked as a guest lecturer at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Warsaw, Poland and the Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald of the Greifswald University (Germany).
Boris Chersonskij, born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine. He studied at the Medical Institute of the University of Odessa. From 1991 to the mid-2000s, he held a chair of clinical psychiatry at the University of Odessa. In addition to his numerous poetic works, he has also published six monographs on psychology and psychiatry. The first poems 6) Chersonskij have been published in the late 1960s. However, many of his poems first appeared only in France, Germany and the USA; in his home country he was able to publish only after the end of the USSR. During the 1970s and 1980s Chersonskij was one of the most important figures in the samizdat movement of Odessa.
Nicoleta Esinencu is a Moldovan playwright and theatre director, who after graduating in drama and theatre arts, has been an active presence in the theatre world in Eastern Europe, writing plays, directing and developing performances. She became widely known with her play “FUCK YOU, Eu.ro.Pa!” (Solitude Press, Stuttgart 2005), which has triggered furious political debates in Romania and in Moldova. Esinencu’s plays were presented in Romania, in the Republic of Moldova, Sweden, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Finland, Germany, Russia, Japan, France and Austria. She has also actively participated in the cultural project “After the fall, Moldova Camping, and relations”.
Tamuna Gurchiani from Tbilisi, since 2011 Cultural Program Manager at Europe House Georgia and Film Producer. She studied oriental languages and history in Georgia and Germany from 1992 to 1997. 2005/2006 she participated in the qualification program of Robert Bosch Foundation Cultural Managers from Central and Eastern Europe and worked at Film House Nürnberg. 2006-2009 she organized South Caucasus Documentary Film Festival for Peace and Human Rights “Nationality: human”. 2006-2014 she has been working at social welfare organization of Georgian Evangelical-Lutheran Church. The documentary produced by Tamar Gurchiani "The Machine Which makes Everything Disappear" was awarded 2013 Best Director at Sundance Film Festival. Interests and Expertise: Europe and cultural exchange, civil society, active citizenship, philanthropy.
Aksana Haiko graduated from the Brest Politechnical University (urbanistics and city planning) and Belarusian State University (Economic Cybernetics and Business Law). She was educated in theater by many workshops, especially of the Polish and Danish alternative scene (8 Day Theatre, Biuro Podrozy, Akademia Ruchu, Wegajty, Teatret Om, Odin Teatret). In 2001 she founded the Free Theatre in Brest. In 2011 it was renamed. She is a director of one of the few street theatres in Belarus. She has directed and played in 10 productions, which have performed in numerous International festivals in Belarus, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Denmark and Germany.
Yaroslav Hrytsak is a professor of modern history at the Ukrainian Catholic University. He has taught at Columbia University (1994, 2004), Harvard University (2000-2001), and the Central European University in Budapest (1996-2009). He is the author of numerous publications on modern history of Eastern Europe and has several awards, including Anton Gindely-Preis für Kultur und Geschichte Mittel-, Ost- und Südosteuropas (Austria, 2010). His book biography of Ivan Franko “Prophet in his Fatherland: Ivan Franko and his Community" (Kyiv, 2006; Polish translation in 2011; English publication in progress) – has been chosen as “Best Book of the Year” (2007). 2013, he was listed among top 100 most influential persons in Ukraine.
Natalija Jerjomenko, is a poet and journalist born in Chernivtsi in 1991. She earned a master’s degree in journalism at Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. She wrote articles for Platfor.ma, Korydor, UP. Life, Zaxid.net, Big Idea. Essays and poems were published in collections "Women's Circle" (2013), "Annals of eyewitnesses: nine months of Ukrainian revolution", "Culture 3.0" and "Majdan! Ukraine, Europa" (2014). Natalia took part in different literature festivals, such as MERIDIAN CZERNOWITZ and Publisher’s Forum. In 2012 she won the Young Republic of Poets (MRP) and in 2013 took 3rd place in DICTUM competition (“Krok” publishing house). The first book of poems "Reverse" was published in 2013.
Irakli Kakabadze is a Georgian writer, performance artist, peace and human rights activist. In 2009, he was awarded the Oxfam/Novib PEN Freedom of Expression Prize. Kakabadze's articles and stories have been published in Georgian, Russian, and English newspapers and magazines. In 2007 Kakabadze received the Lilian Hellman/Hammett grant from Human Rights Watch. From 2008 to 2012, Kakabadze was based in Ithaca, NY, where he has developed a new method of integrating performing arts and social sciences, called "Rethinking Tragedy" or "Transformative Performance." Kakabadze has also pioneered a multi-lingual and multi-narrative performing style, called Polyphonic Discourse.
Ana Margvelashvili is the director of the “Community Development Center” (since 2011, www.satemo.ge), which implements numerous cultural activities in Georgian regions. Since 2010, she has been the founder and member of board of Soviet Past Research Laboratory, and the coordinator of the project “Soviet Tbilisi”. From 2000-2003 she was working as project coordinator on “Support to the Supreme Court of Georgia” (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit). Currently she is a PhD student of Cultural Management at Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgian State University (topic: communal cultural development).
Oxana Matiychuk teaches Foreign Literature at the Chair of Foreign Literature and Theory of Literature and works in the International Office at the Juriy Fedkovych University in Chernivtsi (Ukraine). She was fellow of DAAD and Robert Bosch Foundation. 2010 doctorate with a dissertation “Text genesis in the poetry of Rose Auslaender” at the Institute of Literature in Kiev. Besides that, Oksana Matiychuk is the head of the Ukrainian-German Cultural Society in the Center Gedankendach. She is responsible for various cultural and educational projects. For more information see: www.gedankendach.org
Stanislav Menzelevskyj, born in 1983 in Kyshyniv (Ukraine), studied Cultural Studies at National University of “Kyiv- Mohyla Akademy” (Kyiv, 2002-2008). Carnegie Fellow at Columbia University (NYC, 2013). Worked as a translator and film critic. Since November 2011 he is a research assistant at Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Center. Lives in Kyiv.
Olesya Ostrovska-Lyuta, First Deputy Minister of Culture of Ukraine 2000 graduated from the National University of «Kyiv-Mohyla Academy» speciality «Cultural studies». Work Experience: 1998-1999 – office manager, International Renaissance Foundation. 2003 – assistant to the Director, the Charity Foundation «Center for Contemporary Art». 2007 – manager, LLC «Pillar PR». 2008 - Head of projects and programs, the Charity Foundation «Development of Ukraine». March 19, 2014 - appointed as the First Deputy Minister of Culture of Ukraine.
Olena Pravylo, is Head of the Congress of cultural activists. She is organizer of the international interdisciplinary festival "Transkavkazija" in Kiev (2013) and Georgian movie days in Ukraine (2011). She is working on the research of the alternative financing for culture in the Eastern Partnership countries. Olena is actively promoting the idea of involvement of civil society activists and organizations in the development and implementation of cultural policy for Ukraine.
Mykola Ridnyi lives and works in Kharkiv, Ukraine. 2008 he graduated from Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts (sculpture department). He is co-founder and participant of the SOSka group since 2005. In 2005-2012 curated the SOSka gallery-lab in Kharkiv. Works as an artist and curator. Сuratorial projects: 2014 - "After the Victory". CCA Yermilov centre. Kharkiv, UA; 2011 – "Newspeak". Small gallery of Art Arsenal. Kyiv. UA; 2009 - "New history". Kharkiv museum of art (curated within the SOSka group). UA. Selected individual exhibitions: 2014 - “Shelter”. Visual Culture Research Center. Kyiv. UA; 2012 – "Labor Circle". CCA Zamek Ujazdowski, Bank Pekao Project Room. Warsaw.
Karl Schlögel, historian and journalist. From 1994 to 2013 Professor of East European History at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder). He has studied Philosophy, Sociology, Eastern European History and Slavic Studies in Berlin, Moscow and St. Petersburg. Schlögel made a name for himself as a chronicler of Eastern European countries and their gradual reintegration into Europe. Publications: Borderland Europe – Discovering a new continent (2013), Marijampole or Europe’s Return from the Spirit of the Cities (2005), Reading Time through Space. About history of civic society and geopolitics (2003), The Center Lies Eastward. Europe in Transition (2002). He has received numerous awards, among others 2012 Franz Werfel Human Rights Award and Hoffmann von Fallersleben Prize 2009 Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding (for "Terror and Dream. Moscow 1937"), 2004, Georg Dehio Book Award.
Anton Shekhovtsov, political scientist from Ukraine, 2010 dissertation on "New Radical Right-Wing Parties in Europe. Determinants of Electoral Success". Currently Visiting Lecturer at the "Institute for Human Sciences" (Vienna) and PhD student at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (University College London). He is editor of the book series "Explorations of the Far right" (ibidem-Verlag) and the author of numerous articles on new rights in general and in Russia and Ukraine. Recently published: "The rights sector. Between political technology, politics and street fighting in Juri Andruchowytsch (ed.), "Euromaidan - Was in der Ukraine auf dem Spiel steht" (Suhrkamp Verlag, 2014).
Olga Shparaga, is a research associate at the Center for European Studies in Minsk (CES), lecturer and head of “Modern Society, Ethics and Politics” at the European College of Liberal Arts in Belarus (ww.eclab.by/en). Moreover, she is the editor of the Web-Journal “New Europe”. Her working field is political philosophy with a focus on the theories of community and phenomenology. She is also a scientific editor and co‐publisher of six monographs and publications incl. on contemporary art.
Wolfgang Templin, born in Jena, is a philosopher and journalist. From 2010 to 2013, he was Head of the Regional Office Central Europe in Warsaw, Poland of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. His work focuses on issues of German-German unification process and the developments in Eastern Europe, especially in Poland and Ukraine. After resigning from SED party in 1983 he played a very active role in the German civil rights movement. Templin was a co-founder of the human rights group “Initiative for Peace and Human Rights" and had a key role during the collapse of the GDR dictatorship. After German reunification he was a founding member of the Bürgerbüro for the processing of subsequent damage of the SED dictatorship.
Vladimir Us, artist and curator based in Chisinau, Moldova, founder member of Oberliht Young Artists Association (www.oberliht.com). He studied art, curating, cultural management and cultural policy in Chisinau, Grenoble and Belgrade. Through his recent works and projects he examines the processes of transformation of the public space in post-soviet cities along with the need for conceptualizing an alternative network of public spaces in Chisinau - an important piece of the democratic infrastructure
Mariya Zaichenko is one of the most active cultural actors from Kharkiv. She has been working for Arabesky theatre in more than 30 theatrical and socio-cultural projects. Arabesky theatre is a small independent theatre group from Kharkiv city (10 people cooperating on a constant basis including creative group and managing staff). It is well known among viewers and professionals throughout Ukraine and also functions as an influential and active NGO in its region. Mariya Zaichenko keeps also working for the largest musical Kharkiv festivals and different cultural institutions making wide range of projects.
Serhij Zhadan, was born in Starobil'sk (Eastern Ukraine) and is considered as one of the most influential figures of the literary scene of Ukraine. He has published numerous volumes of poetry and novels and was awarded the Hubert Burda Prize for young poet in 2006. In 2010 he took part at the Berlin artist program (DAAD). 2014 he was awarded jointly with his translators Sabine Stöhr and Yuri Durkot for the novel “The Invention of Jazz in Donbass” (Suhrkamp, 2012) with the Brücke Berlin Literature and Translation Prize. Zhadan is also a translator and organizer of poetry and music festivals. He is performing with bands such as "Sobaky v kosmosi" (Dogs in space) or "Ojra" in several musical and literary projects. (Photo: Tanja Davydenko)
Olga Zhuk from Kyiv, has a strong background in media and cultural events management since 1999. She works since 2010 as curator of international Arsenal Book Festival and head of publishing department at Art Arsenal (“Mystetskyi Arsenal”). Art Arsenal is the National arts, culture and museum complex, the largest exhibition venue in Ukraine. With its annual international book festival it presents over 150 Ukrainian publishers, as well as creates a multidisciplinary program and welcoming artistic environment to broaden the literary context, promote reading and bring new audiences. In 2014 the festival was attended by over 50.000 visitors in five days.