Bard College Berlin News
Stories of resistance: Ukrainian student community at BCB commemorates 2 years of full-scale Russian invasion and 10 years of war
Photo from last year's "Yearlong February" event
BCB’s Ukrainian student community has recently organized themselves into a student club with a goal to inform others about aspects of Ukrainian culture, in particular Ukrainian art, that have been suppressed. Lisa says, “We have our own authentic culture and we have numerous amazing artists that are simply not recognized or known in the world because of Russian imperialism and the Soviet regime. So I think it's my job to promote this knowledge, promote these artists, let people know about them and how amazing they are.”
To achieve this exploration of Ukrainian culture through art, the first event of the series is a film screening of ADA on February 16th. The documentary film, which was created over a period of eight years, is about two Ukrainian artists, Ada Rybachuk and Volodymyr Melnichenko, who were censored and erased from the history of art due to oppressive Soviet politics. One of their greatest works, The Wall of Memory, was covered in concrete in 1982 by the authorities. The film’s director, Alina Matochkina, will attend the screening and speak to BCB students.
A central theme that the Ukrainian Club seeks to explore with this month’s events is the idea of decolonization. “Russian imperialism is often overlooked by scholars. We’re only starting to talk about it, and there is a huge gap in knowledge,” Lisa says. “Decolonization is a lot about rediscovering the cultural heritage that was lost and rediscovering your identity. Talking about art created in Soviet Ukraine helps us discuss the longevity of our art history, and take that art back into our cultural canon.”
The Ukrainian community at BCB has grown since February of last year, Lisa explains. Last year’s commemoration events were only organized by a small number of students, but this year, there has been enough interest and motivation to form the Ukrainian Club on campus. Originally, Lisa says, multiple Ukrainian students were organizing separate initiatives on their own, “But then we started communicating and said, ‘Let's make a club.’”
Another difference from last year’s commemoration of the Russian invasion is that this year, the focus has widened to resistance and solidarity with other oppressed groups. “I think there has been a shift in our thinking,” Lisa explains, “because last year the only thing we had was pain and anger because the wound was so fresh. But now the time passes and we have a colder mind: ‘Okay, so we're in this situation. What are we going to do with it?’ And I think the best thing we can do is to form solidarity.”
This presents an opportunity for people across all backgrounds to talk about their experiences with tragedies, abnormal events, and war. The Ukrainian Club seeks to use empathy to intentionally support transnational stories, especially in the context of the international student community at BCB, many of whom have backgrounds of forced relocation.
The film screening of ADA will take place in BCB’s Lecture Hall on Friday, February 16th at 5:30pm. In addition, on Friday, February 23th at 6:30pm in the Factory, there will be a screening of the film 20 Days in Mariupol, as well as the opening of the exhibition "Unissued Diplomas" dedicated to Ukrainian students who were killed in the war and never got a chance to graduate. All events are open to both Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian attendees.
“I think my main emphasis,” Lisa concludes, “is that we're open to everyone who is not Ukrainian, because we really want to have those human connections and different stories… We're very open to everyone who would like to share something about themselves, about their struggle, about their solidarity, or about their resistance.”
By: Sophia Paudel, Bard College Berlin Communications
Post Date: 02-14-2024