Oksana Zabużko is an eminent Ukrainian writer and poet whose works are among the most translated in Ukraine. Her leading novels are considered the greatest publishing successes in the history of independent Ukraine. As an essayist, she writes about Ukrainian culture, history of Ukrainian thought, processes of formation of modern national consciousness in Europe. She is the main ambassador of “Ukrainianness” in the West. In her homeland, she is seen as an authority figure.
The writer's two-day stay – organised by the University of Lodz and the Lodz Film School on the initiative of the cultural and scientific journal “Kalejdoskop Kultury”, in cooperation with the New Theatre in Lodz and with the important partnership of the City of Lodz – is considered an important event for the academic community and cultural environment. However, we will make an effort to also make it relevant to the Ukrainian community in Lodz. Hence, the important partnership of Fabryka Aktywności Miejskiej [Urban Activity Factory], whose task is to create space for social participation and the Lodz Multicultural Centre implementing a number of activities for and with the Ukrainian community in Lodz.
The main points of Oksana Zabużko's stay programme – the Dean's lecture at the Faculty of Economics and Sociology, University of Lodz under the patronage of the Dean, dr hab. Rafał Matera, UL professor, narrative workshops at the Lodz Film School, open meeting at the New Theatre – are centred around the category of “visibility”, derived from the essay book “Planeta Piołun” [Planet Wormwood] that has recently been published in Poland, which is “a love letter addressed to a 'providential Polish co-interlocutor'”.
Zabużko writes the following:
Even the appearance of the Ukrainian state on the political map in 1991 did not favour closer cognition: there was simply no place for the “Ukrainian” story in the European narrative – as long as the Soviet story remained unrevised. One hundred years of our solitude – our cultural non-existence in the eyes of the outside world – has been an irreparable loss for my generation of writers. Even when we emerge internationally now, we are doomed, at best, to being only half-understood, like stammering people with a speech defect – the cultural context to which we belong is still invisible to a non-Ukrainian audience.
In our opinion, in view of the noticeable fatigue of war (“boredom of war” which Sofija Andruchowycz writes about), with all the wrong-doing which the Russian Federation is responsible for in Ukraine, the unceasing conversation is all the more important. We also want the presence of Oksana Zabużko in Lodz to be a gesture for the Ukrainian community that confirms her (to refer to the motif present in her literature) “visibility” – also by giving the writer's visit the urban event status. By joining the cities, where Ukrainian history and culture are the subjects of substantial public discussion, Lodz, after providing care to those fleeing war, delivers on another commitment that the current international situation imposes on the local community. It shows that it is a responsible city, showing concern for its community – it creates space where Poles and Ukrainians can meet, where the issue of Ukraine's identity, culture and statehood, which is under real threat today, can resonate and be discussed.
PLAN OF STAY OF OKSANA ZABUŻKO: 7-8 OCTOBER 2022
FRIDAY 7 October
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. – Dean's lecture “Ukrainian story: Cognition and self-discovery as a safety issue?”
LOCATION: Faculty of Economics and Sociology, room C140, entrance from Rewolucji 1905
Lecture in Ukrainian, translated simultaneously into Polish.Before the lecture, we encourage you to take part in a press briefing with the participation of the representatives of the University of Lodz, the Lodz Film School, the New Theatre in Lodz and the City of Lodz.
Lecture registration form (in Polish)
Rules for the participation in the Dean's lecture (in Polish)
5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. – Narrative workshops for students of the University of Lodz, Lodz Film School and creators from the New Theatre (a closed event)
LOCATION: Lodz Film School
SATURDAY 8 October
4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. – Open meeting with the author entitled “One hundred years of our solitude” with particular emphasis on the presence of the Ukrainian community. The event combined with a performative reading of excerpts from “Planeta Piołun”.
Meeting in Polish, translated simultaneously into Ukrainian.
LOCATION: New Theatre in Lodz – Small Stage
CHAIRED BY: Anna Łazar – the Deputy Director and Acting Director in the Polish Institutes in Kiev and Saint Petersburg, lecturer at the Institute of Polish Culture, University of Warsaw, Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Member of the editorial board of “Nowa Europa Wschodnia” [New Eastern Europe]. Curator of contemporary art exhibitions, including “Białoruskie Perspektywy” [Belarusian Perspectives]. Since November 2021 she has been working at the Museum of Art in Lodz.
Participants of the meeting with Oksana Zabużko have the opportunity to purchase tickets for the performance “Kar nawał” presented just after the meeting at a special price (normal ticket in the price of a reduced ticket).
Source: Promotion Centre, University of Lodz