Professor Lisa Stansbie: Meeting Notes 22 September

 

Advisory board, members roles, terms of engagement, Doodle poll, dates, models for chairing, Harvard libraries, exhibition catalogue, project visuals, maps, timelines, schedules of work, data categorisation, meta data and tagging, co-authorship, reading, future projects, meeting next summer – project ideas, Vijay Patel building, staff drawing, DMU global, travel, theory and literature, reading material, non-negotiable library time, ERC mentoring, Weinerberger, political associations, maps and layers, translation project.

Virtual Art, Oliver Grau

Over the summer I read Virtual Art: From Illusion To Immersion, an exploration of the Art History of virtual space, published in 2003. Grau takes his historical starting point from painting, in particular the birth of the 360˚ painted panorama in the 18th century. Physical panoramic spaces install the observer in the picture. One of Grau’s core themes throughout the book is perspective, perception and distance, what he describes as ‘Aesthetic Distance’. The interface is vital to this. In Grau’s view, as the interfaces of digital design become more natural and transparent, the distance of an observer to a piece of work vanishes. Without this distance, an overall view, there is a danger of misunderstanding structure and function and losing critical appraisal. “Telepresence” is at the core of this and the author writes about the “Telepistemological” implications of removing presence and distance in virtual work. Virtual and technical presence transforms spatial experience and as location connects to the physical body, inner distance and visual distance are fundamental in how human beings experience art and the world in general.



From the work I am taking in particular ideas about navigation to use in the Jerry Berman letters archive. How to allow a viewer to locate themselves in relation to the collection and to have critical distance to be able to perceive the reality of Berman’s experiences relative to each other and to wider histories from the Holodomor.

Meeting with Andrew Jameson

I met with Andrew Jameson to speak about his work with linguistics, the development of Slavic languages for a new manuscript project I am working on.

 

Interview, passing on generational stories, Domovoy, (domovik) the spirits of the stove, the wooden shoe, Gorky, moving the spirit from house to house (ritualistic) imaginary worlds running parallel to real world, links to climate, the size of a traditional oven, role in familial culture, folklore and superstition, sleeping on the stove, the old couple, grandparents, grandmother and grandfather, Indo-European languages, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (Sanskrit – the role of Sanskrit) word meanings and differences, СТО, ‘k’, smits, functions of the spirits, superstitions and their roots, superstitions and meanings in the countryside and in towns (doorways, white flowers) Epic poetry in the Kyivan era before Moscow, Billini Taboos and country customs, Russian semantics.

ICCEES XI World Congress

‘Disruption and Personal Testimony’ My presentation for the ICCEES World Congress.

 

In July I attended the International Council for Central and East European Studies (ICCEES) XI World Congress at University College London. I had a fantastic time in London, including many friends, old and new. The paper I presented at the conference was ‘Disruption and Personal Testimony: Letters from the Holodomor in the Jerry Berman Archive’. Focusing on the work I have been doing with Lawrence L. Langer’s theories of the literary imagination, I explored debates on disruption and the power of testimony in the Jerry Berman collection. This included reference to Rebecca Comay’s work on commemoration and memorialisation in art.



I loved the conference, in particular the panels on Ukrainian studies, archiving and film. I chaired a panel titled ‘Mobilising Memory, Narrative and Nostalgia’, four scholars presenting three projects on Soviet, Russian, and Ukrainian war films. The discussion led to important debate on the role and influence of film in the region.



 

Photograph from the SSEES library.

The conference was hosted by SSEES, The School of Slavonic & East European Studies at UCL. I took the opportunity for a tour of SSEES and the SSEES library, all housed in a post-modern building on campus, which opened in the early 2000s. This was a highlight of my trip. The collection is fantastic, the Ukrainian collection is one of the biggest I have seen in the UK, and I definitely want to return. 

RUTA: Conference

In June I presented at the RUTA Annual Conference: New Visions and Connections, in Ukraine. My paper was ‘The Literary Imagination: Testimony and Creative practice’. In it I explored global debates on the Holodomor using Lawrence L. Langer’s theories of the literary imagination as a starting point. The claims of art’s importance to bridge literal truth with imaginative reality is central to Langer’s work, and I am applying this to the Jerry Berman collection of witness evidence. My focus is on personal testimony and the digital archive I am creating, due to launch next year.

The panel I presented on focused on surviving, remembering and storytelling. The conference took place at Uzhhorod National University, the other papers were inspiring. I presented alongside three other panellists, chaired by Sasha Dovzhyk, Head of institution at INDEX. Other panels I enjoyed included arts, creative projects, digital archiving, technical work to explore the Russo-Ukrainian war, translation and publishing projects. I moderated a fascinating panel on the final day exploring literature, art and commemoration.

The conference was also an opportunity to visit Uzhhorod for the second time. On my first day I organised a visit to the Scientific Library of Uzhhorod National University which included a tour of the wonderful collections from the Deputy Director Victoria Vorobets and her team. Highlights included a copy of Eneїda, historical maps and materials relating to the history of Uzhhorod.

The Literary Imagination: Presentation at the RUTA Annual Conference 2025 at the Rectorat of Uzhhorod National University.

Archival materials I saw at the Scientific Library of Uzhhorod National University.

Meeting Notes: Professor Lisa Stansbie Monday 11 August

Project structure and planning, publications, Oliver Grau, Lev Manovich, Soft Cinema, Aesthetic distance, locating the viewer in the archive, visualising time (x and y) navigation, five film concepts, co-authorship, terms of reference, formalising the project, translation, essay, book chapter publication, LSE archival research, project map (future project work) ICCEES, SSEES library, Pich project development, language theory, personal stories, investigating the human, relationships, how to show a viewer where they have been, how I bring Berman online, actions.

Research Meeting with Lisa: 14 July 2025

 

  

 

 

 

Manuscript – book research question, threads, archival research, Ukraine, conference presentations, publishing, graphic design, Lev Manovich, Soft Cinema, early 2000s media theory, undergraduate maths, priorities, quick wins, long term planning (end of career) Піч, theory, literature, the development of the Ukrainian language, oral traditions, the ‘window’ in multimedia, reading list, E. H. Gombrich, renaissance windows, national gallery, New York, Columbia University, libraries, Saturday study, interactive film theory, Oliver Grau, cornerhouse Manchester, Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion, London archives, Leicester, De Montfort, Woober and Uber, Holocaust testimonies, testimonies project, Rebecca Comay interview, Fortunoff Video Archive, video and testimonies, funding, ARHC recognition, funding application.

Spaghetti Junction.