Roundtable on Decolonization

Roundtable 2 • Decolonization

Thursday, June 19, 2025, 12:00-1:30pm New York Time (find your time)

Featuring: Maria Taroutina, Jasmina Tumbas, Svitlana Biedarieva, Nazar Kozak, Konstantin Akinsha. Chair: Polly Blakesley

To register, visit the Eventbrite event page.

This roundtable asks: what is the role of Eastern Europe in decolonizing art history? With contributions from scholars working across the region—including Ukraine, Russia, and the Balkans—it brings together a range of perspectives to consider whether, and in what ways, Eastern Europe might complicate, enrich, or redirect the global decolonization debate. Can a region whose various parts have historically occupied the roles of both colonizer and colonized offer new critical tools? What happens when frameworks developed in postcolonial contexts are brought to bear on Eastern European art and its historiography? This conversation explores the tensions, possibilities, and blind spots that emerge when Eastern Europe enters the discourse on decolonization.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons