The Ukraïne Conference & BASU National Meeting took place at the University of Manchester, from 23–25 September. The event was a showcase of research and policy, organised by Professor Olga Onuch’s UoM team and the BASU Chairs Committee. I chaired with Professor Rory Finnin the organised State of the Art panel for Arts and Culture. The discussion was about witnessing, the role of art in times of war and crisis. The speakers on the panel were: Kateryna Babkina, writer and poet; Dr Viktoria Bavykina, co-curator of the National Ukrainian pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale and co-founder of Ukrainian Photographies. Vika is a member of the arts and culture working group and British Council 90th Anniversary Research Fellow 2025 at the University of Liverpool; Max Gorbatskyi, Head of Exhibitions at Open Eye Gallery Liverpool, co-curator of the Ukrainian National Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale and co-founder of Ukrainian Photographies. Dr Uilleam Blacker, Associate Professor at UCL and Professor John McAuliffe, Associate Vice-President for Cultural Portfolio at the University of Manchester. The discussion was about silence, archiving, and imagination. The conference is part of my work at BASU, the British Association for the Study of Ukraine where I co-chair the Arts & Culture working group. It was a fantastic event including three keynotes, research-in-progress panels, a live podcast recording and lots of fascinating conversations with colleagues and friends.
