The Paradoxes of Ukrainian ‘Decolonization’
Available also via Zoom (register here)
Concept: Anastasia Piliavsky, London, and Benjamin Zachariah, Potsdam
With: Maya Dimerli, Odessa; Inna Golubovych, Odessa; Ekaterina Mikheitseva, Odessa; Eva Neymann, Berlin; Vlad Vodko, Odessa
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine has pursued an accelerated programme of “decolonisation”: an official effort to purge the public sphere of elements of Russophone culture, history, and heritage. Widely framed as a moral and wartime necessity, this process has also generated sustained debate about cultural freedom, pluralism, and the limits of state power. This workshop examines Ukraine’s recent experience of decolonisation across education, cinema, literature, and heritage. Bringing together Ukrainian scholars and practitioners, it approaches Ukraine as a critical case within the global politics of decolonisation—one that invites reflection on how emancipatory languages and projects travel, transform, and acquire new political uses.
Maya Dimerli is a writer and translator who heads the Odesa UNESCO City of Literature Office and is a founding member of the Ukrainian Cosmopolis. She has organised numerous international literary and musical festivals and events and is the author of prose, poetry, and translations, including of the work of Natsume Sōseki.
Inna Holubovych is Professor of Philosophy and Head of the Department of Philosophy at Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University, and Head of the Odesa Philosophical Society. A specialist in public philosophy and intellectual history, her work focuses on memory, biography, and archives. She is a Fulbright alumna and a member of the Ukrainian Cosmopolis.
Kateryna Mikheitseva is Head of the Department of Humanities and Cultural Studies at the Odesa International University. Her research focuses on cultural policy and decolonisation in Ukraine, at the intersection of philosophy of culture, cultural studies, and art history. She is a member of Ukrainian Cosmopolis and former Deputy Director of the Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art.
Eva Neymann is an award-winning Ukrainian filmmaker based in Odessa. Her work spans documentary and feature film, exploring everyday life with a distinctive blend of irony, intimacy, and visual precision. A collaborator of Kira Muratova, her films have been shown at major international festivals, including the Berlinale. She is a member of the Ukrainian Cosmopolis.
Anastasia Piliavsky is a social anthropologist. She teaches anthropology and politics at King’s College London. An India specialist, her current research explores language, politics, and vernacular political thought in India and Ukraine. Anastasia appears frequently on radio and TV in Ukraine and Europe, and writes regularly for broadsheets. She lives between Cambridge and Odessa and is the founding head of the Ukrainian Cosmopolis.
Vladyslav Vodko is a historian and educator based in Odesa. He teaches history in a secondary school and lectures at the South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University. His work focuses on Ukrainian, ancient, and intellectual history. He is also a public lecturer, organiser of humanities seminars and founding member of the Ukrainian Cosmopolis.
In cooperation with the Ukrainian Cosmopolis and King’s College, London. Partly funded by the European Research Council