Ethnography of Europe’s last primeval forest
The Belarusian-Polish borderland forest Belavezhskaya Pushcha/Białowieża is rich in cultural, historic, and political meaning for both Belarus and Poland. Only recently Belarus announced that visitors to the forest will be permitted to enter the Belarusian side from the Polish side visa-free.
Cultural anthropologist Eunice Blavascunas has been analyzing and interpreting the meaning of this forest since her first visit in 1995. The European Humanities University (EHU) invites you to a discussion of her recent film Black Stork, White Stork and accompanying chapter from her forthcoming book Of Forests and Time: An Ethnography of the Białowieża Forest.
The discussion will be held at EHU’s campus in Vilnius on Tuesday, May 5 at 1:00 p.m. in Room 301 (Valakupių g. 5).
Prof. Blavascunas will describe what happens to the human misfits of the forest—the people who don’t easily fit into the world of consumptive ecotourism, entrepreneurialism, forestry, or farming. Through film and ethnographic portrait, Blavascunas crafts alternative meanings for what is widely known as “Europe’s last primeval forest”.
Blavascunas will be returning from the Belarusian side of the forest, which she will be visiting for for the first time. Hence, this session will be both a discussion of her work and a chance to hear her impressions of the Belarusian side.
Eunice Blavascunas is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Environmental Studies at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington (USA).
The event is organized by the EHU Laboratory of Critical Urbanism.