The Kyiv International – ‘68 NOW

A lecture by Jacques Rancière (France) in the Red Hall

In its dominant sociological interpretation, the French May ‘68 is viewed as a great surge in “baby-boomers,” nurtured by economic prosperity and eager to cast off the yoke of patriarchal authority in order to fully enjoy the pleasures of consumer society and sexual freedom. This interpretation, however, remains quite distinct from the motivations and practices of a movement that focused on the relationship between the university system and capitalist domination. Far from a youth carnival, the sequence of events that combined to form May ‘68 can allow us to perceive what politics means as the power of collective invention: the invention of names that break social identities; the invention of actions that blow apart the mediations which define the consensual order; the transformation of the material and symbolic use of space; and the autonomous unfolding of accelerated time. Such inventions are usually thought of as manifestations of spontaneous and ephemeral revolt, yet it can easily be ascertained that it is the momentary disruptions of the normal state of things that bring into existence a specific political temporality.

This lecture was held in English with simultaneous translation into Ukrainian.

A presentation by Experimental Jetset in the Blue Hall

The Amsterdam-based graphic design studio, Experimental Jetset (Marieke Stolk, Erwin Brinkers and Danny van den Dungen), will give a presentation on their ongoing research on the notion of the city as a platform for (graphic) language. Referring to their recent retrospective exhibition at RMIT in Melbourne as a point of departure, this presentation will take the form of an intuitive slideshow, focusing on the four main themes of their research – Constructivism, the Situationist International, Provo and Post-Punk – and incorporating examples of their own work.

This presentation took place in English.

A talk by the artist, Igor Grubić (Croatia) in the Blue Hall

In this talk, Igor Grubić will present the 366 Liberation Rituals project. This project consists of different micro-political interventions in public space, which he carried out on an everyday basis throughout 2008 and for part of 2009. The starting point for the project was the 40th anniversary of 1968 and Igor Grubić will refer to Jean-Luc Godard’s political films, the cultural strategies of the late 60s and early 70s and the heritage of conceptual art practices in the countries of the former Yugoslavia.

The talk was held in English.

A lecture by Chantal Mouffe (Belgium) in the Blue Hall

In this lecture, Chantal Mouffe will examine the political impact of what she calls “passions”, referring to the crucial role of affect in the construction of collective identities. Taking her bearings from Spinoza, Freud, Wittgenstein and the agonistic model of democracy that she has elaborated upon in her writing, Chantal Mouffe will scrutinise the role of artistic practices in creating emotional influences which can be mobilised in order to create a collective will able to give new vigour to the democratic ideal.

This lecture was held in English with simultaneous translation into Ukrainian.

A symposium in the Blue Hall, curated by tranzit.cz and with the participation of Zbyněk Baladrán, Pavel Barša (Czech Republic), Laďa Gažiová (Slovak Republic), Agnes Heller (Hungary), Viola Ježková, the Kapitál collective (Czech Republic) and Alexej Klyuykov (Russia).

Perhaps we have never been as alienated from the Czechoslovakian spirit of 1968 as we are now, in our hyper-polarised societies in which the progressive left has been marginalised. Yet, one of 1968’s most crucial questions remains as central to leftist thinking today as it was then: can the socialist model be reformed or not?

This symposium took place in English.

A presentation of a collective art project and a talk by the Tokonoma (Germany) and 33 Soshenko (Ukraine) artists collectives in the artists’ studios at 33 Soshenko, Kyiv.

This presentation will take place within the framework of the Tokonoma collective’s artists residency at the 33 Soshenko collective’s studio. This is itself a continuation of the collaboration between the two collectives that began at documenta 14 in Kassel.

This presentation took place in English.

Film screenings and a presentation by Tereza Stejskalová (Czech Republic) in the Blue Hall

The screenings of Krishna Vishwanath’s Black and White (1968) and Drahomíra Vihanová’s Fugue on the Black Keys (1965) will be followed by a presentation by Tereza Stejskalová (transit.cz) on the amnesia surrounding the cultural exchange with students from non-aligned countries during their stays in Czechoslovakia in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Tereza Stejskalová will focus on the encounters between Asian and African film studies students and the Czechoslovak New Wave in the 1960s and 1970s as well as on the paradox of racism under socialism. As racism was supposed to be incompatible with socialism, this particular issue was considered taboo, yet film caused it to become the subject of public scrutiny.

This presentation took place in English.

A lecture by Aleida Assmann (Germany) in the Blue Hall

Born between 1940 and 1950, Germany’s Generation ‘68 was marked by the Second World War and the country in dissolution which it left behind. These formative circumstances combined to create a strong desire for renewal, a return to normality and a settled life in the society in which they were born.

Generation ’68 grew up at a time of bold technical innovation, economic prosperity, modernisation and social change. The movement towards self-liberation was a distinctly European and Western phenomenon, propelled by American pop culture, visions of flower power and the dreams of hippies. In the German context, the ideals of this movement passed through different stages: starting with a focus on cultural & lifestyle shifts, before becoming political and, arguably, even terroristic. The historical contribution of the 68ers is, however, not limited to what happened in the 1960s and 70s. A second revolt in the 1980s was equally formative in terms of the emergence of a new Europe and Aleida Assmann’s talk will, therefore, focus on both revolutionary moments and how they changed Europe.

This lecture was held in English with simultaneous translation into Ukrainian.

A lecture by Alexei Yurchak (USA) in the Blue Hall

The Soviet communist project was organised around Leninism: the discursive and material construct that consisted of Lenin’s texts and quotes, images and sculptures and Lenin’s physical body in the mausoleum. As the centre of sovereign power, Leninism was constant and eternal, it was the only physical body and body of knowledge that could not be questioned or transcended within Soviet political discourse. In fact, to remain “the same”, Leninism was continuously changed and reinvented throughout Soviet history: Leninist texts were misquoted and censored, Leninist images were invented and retouched and Lenin’s physical body was re-sculpted and re-embalmed. Meanwhile, the biochemical science that maintained and transformed Lenin’s body remained at the centre of this ongoing political reconstruction. What does Leninism look like from the perspective of science, with its biological labs, chemical tests and anatomical procedures? How do the political, the artistic and the biological intersect in this unique project? What does this perspective tell us about the iconoclastic movements targeting Lenin’s images today?

This lecture was held in Russian.