Frankfurt (Oder), Germany

Kirill Repin is coordinator of the summer school Viadrinicum at the European University Viadrina, devoted to the countries of the Eastern Partnership region and the larger post-socialist context. The school is designed as a trans-/cross-sectoral lab, inviting students and representatives of academia, as well as activists, artists and practitioners from various fields to exchange their perspectives and experience and experiment with new approaches and methodologies together in a hands-on manner.

The German town of Frankfurt (Oder) together with its Polish counterpart Słubice make up an aspiring twin-city (aka Słubfurt) on the banks of the Oder river, that stands as a testimony to the numerous historical transformations in these fascinating borderlands. While trying to grapple with its status as a peripheral and transitory place, this university-city doesn’t seem to stop being a riddle in itself: its liminality lures and confines one at the same time.

I would like to experience transbordering laboratory as a learning space, where new collective imaginaries and subjectivities can be developed through dialogue and cooperation among various artistic, social and educational initiatives across national boundaries and geographical divides. I am intrigued to see this network become a community of critical knowledge and practice, where repressive and peripheralizing potential of borders is countered with a culture of hospitality, care and trust.

link:
https://viadrinicum.blog/

contact:
repin@europa-uni.de