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. 

New York Photographs

My New York photographs are ready from the lab (Analogue Wonderland). I have re-fallen in love with my 35mm film camera, a Fujica STX-1. I bought it almost 30 years ago when I was doing my art foundation course, inspired by Tim Rundle, now a Principal Lecturer at Nottingham School of Art & Design at Nottingham Trent University, one of the most inspiring and influential individuals of my career.

For my trip I used Kodak Ultramax 400. I did some research into colour photography and particularly liked Saul Leiter, whose work I hadn’t encountered before. A lot of very flat, almost two-dimensional colour photographs that have a strong composition and layout and almost feel like paintings. I also really like Joel Meyerowitz’s work. This link is colour street photography. The quality, colour and composition are all really evocative.

I took most of my photographs on the Brooklyn Bridge. I was there on my last day, by chance it was golden hour, the light was amazing and all of the photographs, both on film and on my iPhone have a particular quality, which I’d never really understood but is what makes golden hour warm and special. I also have an almost identical photograph of Rodin’s The Thinker from Columbia University, even the focus is the same.

Brooklyn Bridge, 2025. Photo: Sara Nesteruk

 

Brooklyn Bridge, 2025. Photo: Sara Nesteruk 

Brooklyn Bridge, 2025. Photo: Sara Nesteruk

 

 ‘The Thinker’ by Rodin. Photo: Sara Nesteruk

 

A Natural History of the Studio

 

This is a current exhibition of work by William Kentridge. Kentridge’s work includes drawing, erasing, collage, film, performance, music and theatre. He was born in South Africa and grew up under apartheid. His work explores the past and its relationship to the present using tactile forms of production, raw animation techniques and the artist’s studio as a way to describe process, perception and reality. (1)

 

 Figure 1. Pocket Drawings 187–241, 2016. By William Kentridge. Photo: author. 

Figure 2. News from Nowhere (detail), 2007. By William Kentridge. Photo: author.


The exhibition is at Hauser & Wirth in two buildings at 18th Street and 22nd Street New York. A Natural History of the Studio explores printmaking in the first gallery venue and in the second a dynamic, stunning show across two floors of the gallery space. On 22nd Street the focus is a piece of working including production materials, drawing, film and sculpture.

 

Figure 3. Drawing for Self-Portrait as a Coffee-Pot (Mine Dump), 2020. By William Kentridge. Photo: author.



Figure 4. Drawings for Self-Portrait as a Coffee-Pot, 2020. By William Kentridge. Photo: author.


The focus is on Kentridge’s lockdown work completed in 2024, Self-Portrait as a Coffee-Pot. This is an acclaimed series of nine, thirty-minute episodes shot in his studio. The work explores process and is a portrait of a particular moment in the artist’s experience and practice. It includes collage, drawing and video footage of the artist himself. As with many of Kentridge’s works the artist reveals time in a tactile, tangible way through stop-motion animation, drawing and a mix of production techniques that result in a raw, uncomplicated final outcome. The second floor of the gallery includes single screen animation work and sculpture. 

Figure 5. Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot gallery installation. By William Kentridge. Photo: author.



Figure 6. Fugitive Words, 2024. By William Kentridge. Photo: author.

1. “William Kentridge,” Hauser & Wirth, accessed 9 June, 2025, https://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/william-kentridge/ 

Український музеи, Наукове Товариство ім. Шевченка і Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church

Українське мистецтво в Нью-Йорку. Я відвідала три виставки в Українському музеї в Нью-Йорку: «Селянське – Модерне» «Юрій Соловій: Абстагування Часу» і «Українська Писанка». Моєю улюбленою картиною вула «Пічка» Давпда Бурлюка.

Давид Бурлюк. Пічка, 1915.

Я також відвідала Наукове Товариство ім. Шевченка для екскурсії бібліотекою та арківами, візит організовано Razom for Ukraine.

Плакат, Наукове Товариство ім. Шевченка. Без дати.

Мій останній візит була до Української католицької церкви Святого Духа. Там я знайшола ці чудові листівки.

 

Листівки з рецептами, 1974.

Мене особливо цікавлять документи Наукового Товариства ім. Шевченка про життя українців у таборах для переміщених осіб після Другої світової війни.