State surveillance has long been a means of disciplining populations of Central and East Europe. While the authoritarian governments of the region have reverted to the Soviet-style state surveillance strategies by silencing dissidents (Belarus) or listing and wiretapping “Soros mercenaries” (Hungary), corporates today penetrate the society by means of technology and collect data on all aspects of the individual’s life. Women are especially susceptible to surveillance: the patriarchal illiberal regimes have set out to control women’s bodies, desires, and ambitions through the law and through the ideological control of public sentiments. This webinar looks at the surveillance experiences of feminist artists and activists: the presenters explore the aesthetics through which artists capture the affective experience of the ever-present policing gaze and their strategies of resistance to obfuscate the look.
The event is sponsored by the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Program at MacMillan Center and the Women Faculty Forum. Register to attend on zoom: https://bit.ly/REEES-WFF121321
Participants:
Karolina Grzywnowicz, visual artist and activist (Poland/Germany)
Alisa Lozhkina, curator and scholar (Ukraine/USA)
Sasha Razor, curator and scholar (Belarus/USA)
Selma Selman, artist, activist, and educator (Bosnia and Herzegovina/USA)
Aniko Szucs, dramaturg and scholar (Hungary/USA)
Photo Credits: Daria Sazanovich. Balaclava for the honest (2020). Courtesy of the artist