Webinar | Exile: Fear, Creativity, New Dissidence?

The Academy in Exile, the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI) in Essen and the University of Duisburg-Essen hosted the webinar "Exile: Fear, Creativity, New Dissidence?" on June 9, 2021. Panelists included Mohamad Moustafa Alabsi, Christina von Braun, Volker Heins, Yevgeniy Fiks, Kader Konuk. The event was moderated by Pawel Leszkowicz and Tomasz Kitlinski.
About the event:
What is the significance of exile today? For the refugees themselves, exile is first and foremost a brutal form of punishment. Yet in spite of all the anxiety and pain, many victims of forced exile have found opportunities to rebuild their lives in new ways. Consequently, while the plight of refugees remains a tragic symbol of our times, evoking images of terrible suffering, many victims of forced exile feel hopeful as well - both imprisoned and free at the same time.
Although individual circumstances and political contexts vary widely, refugees - no matter where they come from or what caused them to flee - identify with one another’s experiences in ways that transcend the specific cultural, political and historical details that separate them. At the present time, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people have been forced into exile. And as they struggle to survive, often under dire and deadly circumstances in foreign lands, they also feel a sense of alienation or exile from themselves. And this second exile, Julia Kristeva reminds us, which is deeply rooted in the human condition, is not entirely negative.
Keeping Kristeva’s insight in mind, the participants in this webinar will challenge us to theorize about exile as both a deeply existential and political malaise. Exile is part of our human condition today and of our past and future. Re-examining the idea, requires thinking about it collectively, with political activists/dissidents, political/social theorists, and artists.
PANELISTS
Mohamad Moustafa Alabsi, Columbia Global Centers | Amman
Christina von Braun, Selma Stern Center for Jewish Studies
Volker Heins, KWI & Academy in Exile
Yevgeniy Fiks, Artist
Kader Konuk, University of Duisburg-Essen & Academy in Exile
CONVENERS
Pawel Leszkowicz, art historian & queer-feminist activist
Tomasz Kitlinski, Academy in Exile & queer-feminist activist
ORGANISER
Organised by the Academy in Exile, the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI) and the University of Duisburg-Essen
MORE INFORMATION (PDF): www.kulturwiss...