An interdisciplinary journey into the substance of Freedom, Peace and Security.

Interdisciplinary residency program.

Organizers: Pilecki-Institut, Vitsche e.V., Genshagen Stiftung

With support: Stiftung für Deutsch-Polnische Zusammenarbeit, Auswärtiges Amt

Curator: Kataryna Tarabukina

For whom:

philosophers, historians, political scientists, visual/sound/music/interdisciplinary artists, writers/poets, researchers aged 20-45, from Ukraine, Poland, and Germany.

When: 10-16.02.2023

Where: Berlin, Genshagen

Deadline for application: December 31, 2022

An interdisciplinary residency program offering a series of lectures, workshops, and city/museum tours led by top scholars and practitioners from Ukraine, Germany, and Poland.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has challenged the meaning of commonly shared values and revealed differences in their understanding, questioning what terms such as security, freedom, and solidarity mean for each of us. We endeavor to reveal, re-open and share three different practices and approaches toward decision-making from three different political nations — Poland, Germany, and Ukraine.

The project „The Nexus of DECISION 2023″ has the ambition and courage to debate and compare the historical, political, philosophical, and spiritual paths of these three geopolitical regions – Ukraine, Poland, and Germany – the challenges they are facing and the decisions they are taking from different perspectives in dealing with the massive violence, both individual and collective, that has come to the European continent.

The aim of the program is to build a space for dialogue and collaboration between young artists and scholars from Germany, Ukraine and Poland.

The „The Nexus of DECISION 2023″ program addresses the differences and similarities in the way we think about Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The decision is not only about political issues – why certain countries decide on a particular policy towards Russia and Ukraine – but first and foremost about the individual roots of how and why we think about Europe, what it is, what its values are, the importance of choosing an identity, deciding to act or not to act. „The Nexus of DECISION 2023″ is a program in which we will try to discover the reasons for the cultural and historical differences which today often determine the sources of thinking – about pacifism, peace, patriotism, solidarity, propaganda, fighting, surrender, correlations between individual and common responsibility, defending identity, etc.

Who can apply?

philosophers, historians, political scientists, visual/sound/music/interdisciplinary artists, writers/poets, researchers

Age: 20-45

From: Ukraine, Poland, and Germany. Refugees from Ukraine are most welcome.

In February 2023 we will host a week-long residency in Stiftung Genshagen.  During the 6-day program, participants will take part in seminars, workshops, ice-breaking games, city tours, curatorial museum guided tours, and other activities to help us work through the topic.

Following this meeting participants will take part in a reporting event at the Pilecki Institute to share their experiences, and thoughts, and to show intermediate results. They will then have the opportunity to apply for an upcoming scholar program.

The program of the project „The Nexus of DECISION 2023″  will be focused on four thematic sections:

#1. Freedom / Peace:

This part will include seminars led by Polish, German and Ukrainian philosophers, historians, and political scientists. Participants will jointly discuss texts dealing with the understanding of peace and freedom, and the re-conceptualizing of peace;

# 2. Security / Fragility of the body:

This section will include workshops led by Ukrainian and Polish artists, curators and activists. Decision-making on an individual level will be discussed.

The section will concentrate on contemporary understandings of freedom from the standpoint of tensions between political/national community and individual liberty, and on liberal perspectives regarding security and the military.

# 3. Decolonial practices from the Ukrainian perspective

This section will include both academic and practical/cultural texts to formulate an approach to understanding decolonial practices in Ukraine.

#4. Activists / Embodied practice

The fourth part is a workshop in Berlin museums with museologists and cultural animators, working on understanding the psychological and philosophical aspects of decision-making in German society as articulated through art.

Location and dates

10.02.2023 – 16.02.2023

4 days –  Stiftung Genshagen

Schloss 1, 14974 Genshagen

2 days – Pilecki-Institut

Pariser Platz 4A, 10117 Berlin

language of residency: English

Selection

Participants will be selected in an open call procedure, with a maximum of 15 people (5 from Germany, 5 from Ukraine, 5 from Poland). Refugees from Ukraine are welcome.

Our offer includes

• Participation in the lectures, seminars, workshops of the residency program „The Nexus of DECISION 2023″
• expenses for traveling, accommodation, and catering in Genshagen and Berlin covered in full;
• city travel expenses are covered full
• for participants of the residency – there will be an opportunity to submit their own research or artistic project, texts, etc. elaborated or expanded on during the program.

A COMPLETE APPLICATION SHOULD INCLUDE

1. Scans of signed forms:

• declaration concerning the control of personal data – Download
• declaration concerning the provision of consent to the processing of personal data and personal image data – Download

2. CV in PDF format (two pages maximum) and/or portfolio (max 50 MB);
3. Description of your artistic/academic/professional interests as related to the main theme of the “Decision” program. Motivation letter (up to 2,500 characters incl. spaces);

Please send the application to kateryna.tarabukina@vitsche.org 

till December 31, 2022

4. The organizers reserve the right to contact the selected candidate(s) for additional online interviews and for one online group meeting.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Application documents will be accepted in English only;
• Successful candidates undertake to attend the full program in February 2023 (depending on COVID-19 restrictions);
• Courses, lectures and workshops will be held in English;
• If you have any questions, please feel free to contact: kateryna.tarabukina@vitsche.org
• The results of the recruitment procedure will be announced by January 15, 2023. The list of selected participants will be published:
  – on the website of the Pilecki Institute: pileckiinstitut.de
  – on Genshagen Stiftung website https://www.stiftung-genshagen.de
  – on Vitsche e.V. website https://vitsche.org/
• The organizers are not under any obligation to substantiate the decisions of the enrolment committee. No appeal procedure has been provided for.
• For candidates selected to participate in the project, the present document will constitute an attachment to the agreement concluded between any such candidate and the Pilecki Institute.
• The „The Nexus of DECISION 2023″ residency Open Call can be downloaded as a pdf here.

ORGANISATION

organizers:

Pilecki Institute Berlin

Vitsche e. V.

Stiftung Genshagen

with support of:

Stiftung für Deutsch-Polnische Zusammenarbeit

Auswärtiges Amt

On September 23rd, we expelled our member Anton Dorokh from our organization Vitsche e.V.

The unofficial beginning of Vitsche as a Ukrainian movement in Germany dates back to January 30th, when active Ukrainians organized the first protest for sanctions and isolation of russia before the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine became reality. Over the next six months, a large number of people joined the organization to support our common cause – the struggle for the victory of Ukraine.

Over time, a committed, stable team formed, and we registered Vitsche as a non-profit organization to legalize our status.

Participation in Vitsche has always been based on trust, shared values, and the common goals of stopping russian violent aggression and supporting Ukrainians in Ukraine and abroad.

Recently, with third-party assistance, we discovered new details in the biography of someone who had been representing Vitsche for a long time and oversaw several projects of the organization. Not without regret and with full responsibility for our inattention, we must admit that we overlooked the detailed background-checking of community members at the beginning of the organization’s existence.

For those 6+ months, there had been a person in the organization whose past is connected with the propaganda machine of the aggressor state. Anton Dorokh worked for RT (RussiaToday) and its subsidiary Ruptly from 2014 until November 2021 and was a journalist officially accredited by the terrorist organization “DNR”. Such accreditation is granted for reporting in favor of the aggressor state russia and its puppet terrorist organisations.

With regret, we report this situation – and we sincerely welcome your questions and criticism.  Involvement in russian propaganda, as well as any manifestation of non-value behavior, is deeply condemned by our organization and is something we will continue to fight against throughout our existence. Deliberate withholding or deceit in regards to such facts puts an end to cooperation with Vitsche in any form.

 Reaction of our organization:

•  The Vitsche team voted to expel Anton Dorokh from our organization. He is now going through the exclusion process with all the consequences. The exclusion document was signed on September 23rd.

•  Vitsche does not renounce responsibility for the projects in which this team member had participated and assures that the projects have in no way violated the interests of the Ukrainian community.

What’s next?

•  From now on, Vitsche will always make it clear to new applicants that collaborating with the russian state in the past EXCLUDES them from joining Vitsche, even if their position has changed and they now have pro-Ukrainian views.

•  We will communicate the values ​​of Vitsche even more carefully and clearly to new participants.

•  The organization will continue to make decisions by majority vote and check all projects and cooperations for agreement with Vitsche values ​​and the main goals of our activity.
•  We will ensure that only jointly elected representatives communicate on behalf of Vitsche.

We, Vitsche, sincerely believe in dialogue with all people who were once influenced by russian propaganda, but later realized their mistake and radically changed their views. Nevertheless, any person who helped russian terror must bear responsibility for it and cannot represent the Ukrainian civil movement.

 Ex-propaganda does not exist.