Refusing victimhood and commanding attention

Well-intentioned appeals from the collective West to encourage cultural dialogue between victim and aggressor reflect existing power structures. Reconciliation, Kateryna Botanova explains, cannot be imposed from outside.

Ukrainian artists are pressured by their international peers who still entertain the naive idea that the purpose of culture is reconciliation.

They have to push back against these initiatives, but walk a tightrope as they need to nevertheless keep western attention, says Kiyv-born curator and art historian Kateryna Botanova, who is also a recurring Eurozine author.

This episode is an edited version of a longer conversation, which is available in its entirety only to our Patrons. You can get access to the full episode, and more giveaways by becoming a Patron for as little as €5 a month on Patreon.

Read Kateryna Botanova’s articles in Eurozine, including the two she discusses in this episode:

 

Please subscribe to Gagarin on SpotifyApple podcastsCastbox, Stitcher, Soundcloud or wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review so more people can find us. You can also subscribe to our newsletter, so you’ll always know what’s truly worth thinking about.

Published 10 March 2023
Original in English
First published by Eurozine

© Eurozine

PDF/PRINT

Newsletter

Subscribe to know what’s worth thinking about.

Related Articles

Cover for: The power of smaller countries

Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s imperialist war has discredited the spheres of influence theory once and for all. The EU is being forced to reappraise not just its security policy, but also its colonial mindset towards smaller countries beyond its borders. Part of the series ‘Lessons of war: The rebirth of Europe revisited’.

Cover for: Ukraine: Europe’s greatest test

The Russian attack on Ukraine has plunged Europe into a security crisis. So far the reaction has been united. But quick-fix defence spending is one thing, a long-term strategic response quite another. Part of the series ‘Lessons of war: The rebirth of Europe revisited.’

Discussion


Notice: Trying to get property 'queue' of non-object in /home/eurozine/www/wp-includes/script-loader.php on line 2876

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/eurozine/www/wp-includes/script-loader.php on line 2876