The webinar series is designed to guide participants through discussions on topics such as the body and care, structural inequality, and infrastructures of oppression, culminating in a rethinking of potential practices of solidarity.
The expression “Fragile Connections” is borrowed from Sara Ahmed’s book Living a Feminist Life. It highlights the contradictory nature of our collective experience: fundamental togetherness and solidarity on one side, and fragility and loneliness on the other.
This program aims to explore the fragility of our connections and the possibilities for solidarity and resistance in the modern world.
More info: https://www.wintech.me/fragile
Curators: Antonina Stebur and Nadzeya Karpenka
10 December, 18:30
Bojana Pejić: On Hygienic Imagination: Postwar and Hausputz
In her lecture, Bojana Pejić will explore the works of three women artists born in socialist Yugoslavia—Marina Abramović, Maja Bajević, and Alketa Xhafa-Mripa. In their reflections on the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, these artists employ a method Pejić refers to as “hygienic imagination.”
These works respond to losses—human lives, a multi-ethnic state—and the personal tragedies of women subjected to wartime sexual violence. The artists use imagery of domestic labor: scrubbing bones with soap (Abramović), washing towels embroidered with political slogans (Bajević), and publicly airing “laundered linens” of violence survivors (Xhafa-Mripa).
Pejić also examines the postwar phenomenon of Hausputz (“house cleaning”), symbolizing moral and national “cleansing” in post-1945 Europe, and the role of women performing domestic labor as part of “affective labor.”
Language: English with Russian/Belarusian interpretation
About the speaker: Bojana Pejić is an art historian and curator. She curated After the Wall and Gender Check and has published widely, including Gender Check: Art and Theory in Eastern Europe – A Reader (2010). In 2022, she received the Igor Zabel Award for her contributions to art and culture.
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17 December, 18:30
Eglė Ambrasaitė: Gender Apparatuses of Soviet Socialist Biopolitics in Late and Early Post-Socialist Žeimiai: Practices of Regulation and (Women’s) Resistance
In her lecture, Bojana Pejić will explore the works of three women artists born in socialist Yugoslavia—Marina Abramović, Maja Bajević, and Alketa Xhafa-Mripa. In their reflections on the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, these artists employ a method Pejić refers to as “hygienic imagination.”
This lecture examines the gender mechanisms of biopolitics during the late Soviet socialist and early post-Soviet periods, using the Lithuanian town of Žeimiai as a case study. Drawing from her PhD research, Eglė Ambrasaitė explores how everyday practices such as labor, reproduction, and intimacy activated gender apparatuses in a regional context.
The talk focuses on rethinking and deconstructing stereotypical perceptions of socialist and post-socialist life in Lithuania, exploring practices of regulation, resistance, and the diversity of women’s experiences during these periods.
Language: English with Russian/Belarusian interpretation
About the speaker: Eglė Ambrasaitė is an artist, independent curator, and researcher based in Lithuania, Hungary, Germany, and the USA. She directs Aikas Žado Association and curates Aikas Žado Laboratory, focusing on materiality, embodiment, love, and healing through decolonial and affective theories.
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8 January, 18:30
Yana Sanko: Gendered Experience of Forced Migration Through Intersecting Gazes
Fleeing persecution in Belarus means not only physical relocation but also navigating various bureaucratic and digital systems. During this journey, individuals often experience intersecting gazes that observe, evaluate, and classify their behavior. Whose gazes are these, and what are their intentions?
This presentation is based on ethnographic research into the experiences of political refugees from Belarus in Lithuania. It analyzes how individuals understand and cope with the overlapping surveillance systems. The talk highlights how different vulnerabilities shape attitudes toward surveillance, making it either hostile or desirable. A particular focus will be given to women’s experiences in refugee spaces, including the psychological assistance provided and its role within surveillance systems that treat migrants as “incomplete subjects.”
This research shows how the unique challenges faced by the Belarusian diaspora reflect broader migration phenomena, offering insights for solidarity networks and self-advocacy.
Language: English with Russian/Belarusian interpretation
About the speaker: Yana Sanko is a social anthropology graduate (Lund University, Sweden), poet, and participant in the fem-writing laboratory “Expansion.” Formerly Head of User Research at UXPressia, she co-founded the Belarusian design community UX Connect. After 11 years in IT, she now researches topics such as gendered labor, forced migration, solidarity, mental health policies, and neurodivergence.
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13 January, 18:30
Andrea Pető: Gender Studies and Illiberalism
This lecture explores the impact of illiberal attacks on gender studies, which have transformed the field and affected scholars and institutions. Andrea Pető will examine examples of resistance to these challenges and discuss potential future scenarios. The lecture emphasizes the importance of historical knowledge and open dialogue in building democratic societies grounded in human rights.
Language: English with Russian/Belarusian interpretation
About the speaker: Andrea Pető is a professor at the Department of Gender Studies at Central European University (Vienna), a researcher at CEU’s Democracy Institute (Budapest), and a Doctor of Science at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Her work, translated into 24 languages, focuses on gender, politics, and war. She is a recipient of the ALLEA Madame de Staël Prize (2018) and the University of Oslo Human Rights Award (2022).
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21 January, 18:30
Ewa Majewska: Between Weak Resistance and Perverted Care: Queer-Feminist Politics in Times of Fascism
Modern exclusionary regimes established by fascist authorities share common features: heightened militarized security, the construction of public enemies, and increased executive power, all framed as “care,” not hatred. This lecture discusses the “caring hands and eyes of Leviathan,” viewing the state not only as a masculine pater familias but also as a maternal, caring version that operates through perverted care.
The concept of weak resistance will be contrasted with neoliberal resilience and explored as part of a transversal alliance aimed at resistance rather than maintaining the status quo.
Language: English with Russian/Belarusian interpretation
About the speaker: Ewa Majewska is a feminist cultural theorist and associate professor at SWPS University (Warsaw). She works on queer theory in the project Public Against Their Will: The Production of Subjects in the Archives of Operation “Hyacinth.” Majewska is the author of seven books, including Feminist Antifascism (Verso, 2021), and articles in e-flux, Signs, Third Text, and more.
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4 February, 18:30
Almira Ousmanova: “A Room of One’s Own”: On Spaces of Feminist (Dis)Agreement
Thanks to Virginia Woolf, “a room of one’s own” became a key metaphor for feminist reflection on the experience of women in patriarchal societies. Later, the conceptualization of diverse social spaces, mobility, and overcoming boundaries between private and public spheres evolved in gender studies. Feminist theorists have since introduced numerous spatial metaphors and concepts.
This lecture examines the relationship between space and thought in feminist theory, drawing on works by Virginia Woolf, Julia Kristeva, Ruth Salvaggio, and Sara Ahmed.
Language: English with Russian/Belarusian interpretation
About the speaker: Almira Ousmanova is a philosopher, cultural theorist, and gender scholar. She is a professor at the European Humanities University (Vilnius, Lithuania) and leads the Laboratory for Visual Culture and Contemporary Art. Her research interests include visual studies, semiotics, gender representation in cinema and art, and the intersection of art and politics.
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11 February, 18:30
Olga Plakhotnik: Appropriated Feminisms
Ideas of gender rights—sexual autonomy, bodily agency, reproductive rights, protection from violence, and recognition of care work—are central to feminist and queer struggles. However, these same ideas are often appropriated by conservative, far-right, and fundamentalist groups to fuel hate against trans* people, people of color, migrants, and other vulnerable communities.
This seminar explores how feminist ideas have been co-opted, who speaks in whose name, and which rights they address. It also discusses the type of feminism that could resist such appropriations.
Language: Ukrainian and Belarusian
About the speaker: Olga Plakhotnik is a professor of Ukrainian cultural studies at the University of Greifswald and the leader of the project “(Un)Disciplined: Pluralizing Ukrainian Studies—Understanding the War in Ukraine,” funded by the German Ministry of Education. Her work focuses on feminist/queer epistemologies, critical citizenship studies, and pedagogies.
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18 February, 18:30
Olia Sosnovskaya: Choreographies of Resistance
Volya Sosnovskaya examines the practices and choreographies of protest during the 2020–2021 Belarus uprising, including marches, courtyard gatherings, and strikes, from a feminist perspective. The lecture explores alternatives to patriarchal visions of protest as singular heroic acts and challenges linear perceptions of revolutionary time by considering characteristics like exhaustion, fluidity, and fragility.
It also examines how these protest practices transform in the context of Russia’s imperial aggression against Ukraine, questioning whether crises in protest movements and political organization can lead to new forms of solidarity and political action.
Language: English with Russian/Belarusian interpretation
About the speaker: Olia Sosnovskaya is an artist, researcher, and cultural organizer working at the intersection of performance and visual art. She is a member of the Problem Collective and Work Hard! Rest Hard! research group and is currently a PhD candidate in the PhD in Practice program at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna.
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25 February, 18:30
Tatsiana Shchurko: Solidarity Against Imperialism: Transgressive Forms of Sociality and Closeness Between Audre Lorde and Antonina Kymytval
This lecture discusses the 1976 meeting of Audre Lorde, the renowned African-American writer and feminist, with Chukchi writer Antonina Kymytval in Tashkent. This encounter became a moment of mutual support and solidarity.
Tatsiana Shchurko analyzes how Lorde’s reflections open a new perspective on solidarity politics—not through official channels but through the collective efforts of marginalized communities resisting imperial violence. The lecture also examines how this meeting challenged the rigid norms of Soviet and Western political systems and colonial logic, raising questions about the possibilities of transnational ethical solidarity today.
Language: English with Russian/Belarusian interpretation
About the speaker: Tatsiana Shchurko is a philosophy professor and gender studies researcher at the University of South Florida. Her interests include solidarity politics, critical race theory, and anti-colonial feminism.
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4 March, 18:30
Ekaterina Donskova: Forms of Hope, Survival, and Solidarity at the Intersection of Queer and National Identity
This lecture explores the development of queer activism during political repression. By examining queer activism during Belarus’s 2020 Revolution, Katsiaryna Danskova highlights how activists mobilize against quasi-colonialism and homophobia, addressing intersections between queer and national identity.
Language: English with Russian/Belarusian interpretation
About the speaker: Ekaterina Donskova is a gender researcher, queer activist, and non-formal education trainer.
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11 March, 18:30
Bojana Piškur: What Are We Actually Saying When We Talk About Solidarity?
Many significant concepts, including “solidarity,” have turned into clichés or empty phrases. Rather than abandoning them, we need to reclaim their original meaning or create a new language. This requires self-decolonization and a reevaluation of our relationship with power and privilege.
The presentation examines historical examples of solidarity practices in art and culture, primarily within the Non-Aligned Movement, and their connections to contemporary practices.
Language: English with Russian/Belarusian interpretation
About the speaker: Bojana Piškur is a curator at the Moderna galerija in Ljubljana. Her work focuses on the Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav context, the Non-Aligned Movement, and cultural practices in Eastern Europe.
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18 March, 18:30
Rana Anani: Art Practices as Acts of Solidarity: The Case of Palestine
Art serves as a vital medium for highlighting global conflicts, fostering empathy, and supporting oppressed communities. Rana Anani discusses how cultural practices have historically supported the Palestinian struggle, particularly in the context of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The lecture analyzes specific examples of solidarity with Palestine and explores how collective art practices contribute to resistance and resilience.
Language: English with Russian/Belarusian interpretation
About the speaker: Rana Anani is a curator, writer, and researcher specializing in visual arts and culture. She has worked with institutions such as the Palestinian Museum and Sharjah Biennale and is currently the editor of Falastin al-Maydan.