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Saturday 02/01/14 4PM
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Exhibition-Related

SPACESHIP SKYPE SESSION: Europe At Its Best

Cover Image:

“Report on the Construction of a Spaceship Module,” 2014. Exhibition view: New Museum, New York. Courtesy the New Museum. Photo: Jesse Untracht-Oakner

A Skype presentation and talk with Keti Chukhrov (Moscow, Russia), Nikita Kadan, and Oleksiy Radynski (Kiev, Ukraine); moderated by Georg Schöllhammer.

Statement from Schöllhammer:

In early January 2014, a number of outstanding intellectuals (among them Zygmunt Bauman, Seyla Benhabib, Carlo Ginzburg, Richard Sennett, Artur Żmijewski, Slavoj Žižek, and others) signed a letter calling for support of Ukrainian protesters who could “help to build a fairer Europe.” Charmed by a long-term peaceful protest in the freezing temperatures of Kiev, they claimed, “Ukrainian Maidan represents Europe at its best.” However, weeks after their letter was published in the Guardian, the peaceful protest descended into violent street battles with riot police, caused by a bitter political stalemate and the presence of the radical right among the protesters. What happened to “Europe At Its Best”? Is this the fault of Ukrainian protesters, who are “not democratic enough,” or does the Ukrainian disaster tells us something about Europe itself? These questions will be at the centre of Oleksiy Radynski’s intervention. Nikita Kadan’s presentation is entitled “Stage and Square” and focuses on hierarchy and horizontal self-organization on Maidan Square in Kiev, the central site of current protests in Ukraine.

Biographies:
Oleksiy Radynski is a filmmaker and activist based in Kiev. He is a member of the Visual Culture Research Center, an initiative for art, knowledge, and politics started in 2008, and an editor of Political Critique magazine. He was a research coordinator for Local Modernities project (2010–12). His films have been shown at the 7th Berlin Biennial, 1st Tbilisi Triennial, and CCA Zamek Ujazdowski.

Nikita Kadan is an artist based in Kiev. Since 2004, he has been a member of R.E.P. (Revolutionary Experimental Space) artists group. He is cofounder and a member of HUDRADA (Artistic committee), a curatorial and activist group, and a member of the Initiative of Art Workers Self-Defense (ISTM). Kadan’s work often takes the form of an interdisciplinary collaboration with architects, human rights watch activists, and sociologists. His works have been shown at the Deutsches Historisches Museum (Berlin), Pinakothek der Moderne (Munich), Palazzo Reale (Milan), and at the Moscow and Venice Biennials.

Keti Chukhrov works as an associate professor in the Department of Art Theory and Cultural Studies at Moscow’s Russian State University for Humanities. She is head of the Theoretical Studies in Cultural Anthropology program at the National Center for Contemporary Arts, Moscow. She is a member of the editorial council of Moscow Art Magazine and author of publications on culture, philosophy, and art theory. She writes for various journals, such as Moscow Art Magazine, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie [New Literary Review], Chto Delat? [What is to be done?], Brumaria, Artforum, springerin, e-flux, Pushkin, Afterall, and the Open Space. Her books include: Byt i ispolniat: Proekt teatra v filosofskoi kritike iskusstva [to Be – to perform: theater in the philosophical criticism of art] (2011); Prosto liudi: Dramaticheskie poemy [Just humans: dramatic poems] (2010); and Pound & £ (1999).

Free with Museum admission.
Running time: One hour

Sponsors

Exhibition funding

The presentation of “tranzit: Report on the Construction of a Spaceship Module” is made possible through a partnership with

Additional support provided by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
Artist travel is provided, in part, by the Trust for Mutual Understanding. Additional support for artist travel has been provided in part by Balassi Institute – Hungarian Cultural Center and the Ministry of Culture of Lithuania.

Museum as Hub FUNDING

Museum as Hub is made possible by

Artist residencies are made possible by

Support for Museum as Hub and public programs is provided, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts. Additional support for artist residencies is made possible by Laurie Wolfert.

Endowment support is provided by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Skadden, Arps Education Programs Fund, and the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs at the New Museum.

Education and public programs are made possible by a generous grant from Goldman Sachs Gives at the recommendation of David B. Heller & Hermine Riegerl Heller.

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