[spectre] ANN: A Postcolonial Condition [in Eastern Europe]? (Hamburg, 22-26 Sep 25)

[Andreas Broeckmann LEU]

From: Prof. Dr. Petra Lange-Berndt
Date: Sep 13, 2025
Subject: ANN: A Postcolonial Condition? Public Program (Hamburg, 22-26 
Sep 25)

Warburg-Haus, Heilwigstrasse 116, 20249 Hamburg, Sep 22–26, 2025

Public programme in the context of

A Postcolonial Condition? Art, Literature, Film, and the Everyday in 
Eastern Europe, 1989–today.
Summer school 2025, Warburg-Haus, Heilwigstrasse 116, 20249 Hamburg

Organised by: Dr. Marina Gerber, Prof. Dr. Petra Lange-Berndt, Prof. Dr. 
Anja Tippner, Eastern European / Slavic Studies and Department of 
History of Art, Universität Hamburg

Decolonial and postcolonial studies play a major role in Eastern Europe 
in both theory and aesthetic practices such as art, literature, film, or 
visual and material culture. Especially since 1989 they establish a 
change of perspective that has been making peripheral actors and 
non-hegemonic positions visible. The demand for the examination of 
imperial structures, site-sensitive theories and a re-examination of 
Eurocentric points of view have increasingly become the focus of the 
debate, which has gained urgency at the latest since the Russian attacks 
on Ukraine. However, the query surfaces whether and how exactly theories 
of decolonisation, which were developed with other geographies in mind, 
and Eastern Europe can or should be thought together. This is valid 
especially considering the diversity of postsocialist spaces, which 
extend from Central Europe via the Baltic States, Russia and Ukraine to 
Central Asia.

Therefore, this Summer School will focus on these recent discussions and 
explore the following questions: Is a description of the conditions in 
the postsocialist space as postcolonial adequate? If so, what might the 
decolonisation of Eastern Europe look like? What is the relationship 
between postcolonial and postsocialist dynamics? What role can the arts 
play in these processes? Which aesthetic practices can be described as 
decolonising? How do authors and artists develop alternative modes of 
situating themselves as Eastern European? How are postcolonial 
approaches adapted to the cultural and historical experiences and new 
political conditions in the regions?


Monday, September 22, 2025
18.00–19.30 Evening lecture and in conversation
Coloniality without Colonies. Building the East European Confidence
Joanna Warsza (Stadtkuratorin, Hamburg)


Tuesday, September 23, 2025
18.00–19.30 Evening lecture
“Need I mention every single bird that flies in the face of frontiers”. 
The German-Polish Border after 1990 in Art, Research and Curatorial Work
Prof. Dr. Burcu Dogramaci (Department of Art History, 
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich)

The Polish-German border has a turbulent and complicated history that 
continues to involve artists and exhibitions to this day. The 
442-kilometre-long structure was the focus of a research project I 
conducted together with art historian Marta Smolińska, in which we 
explored the German-Polish border region as a zone of artistic work, 
exchange and reflection. We worked with the double meaning of the term 
‘sharing’ (in German ‘teilen’) as separation and also as shared 
possession and experience. In this respect, we understand the border and 
its regions as much more than a political and territorial dividing line. 
It is noteworthy that the term ‘border’ is already a shared word 
formation: the German ‘Grenze’ is a loanword from Old Polish and comes 
from ‘Granizza’ for border or abbreviation. Grenze thus has its 
etymological origin in the language of the ‘others,’ beyond today’s 
national borders. The shared word also refers to a common (linguistic) 
origin. Our research trips along the border finally resulted in a 
monograph and a travelling exhibition, which was shown at the National 
Museum in Poznań and the Zentrum für Aktuelle Kunst in Berlin-Spandau. 
My lecture will introduce the context of our research on German-Polish 
border art, present case studies and our curatorial concept.


Thursday, September 25, 2025
18.00–19.30 Film screening and talk
Where Russia Ends. Cinematic Essay (2024)
Oleksiy Radynski (Artist, filmmaker, Kyiv), Philipp Goll (Author, 
critic, Berlin)

In the late 1980s, a team of Ukrainian filmmakers undertook several film 
expeditions to remote areas of Siberia. Their forgotten film rolls were 
rediscovered in Kyiv in 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 
This fascinating archive is the starting point for a cinematic essay 
that addresses Russian imperialism, environmental destruction, and the 
ongoing oppression and extermination of indigenous peoples in the remote 
areas of Siberia.


Reference / Quellennachweis:
ANN: A Postcolonial Condition? Public Program (Hamburg, 22-26 Sep 25). 
In: ArtHist.net, Sep 13, 2025. <https://arthist.net/archive/50593>.