Wojna. Sztuka. Dekolonizacja
War. Art. Decolonization

Summary/Abstract: The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine not only triggered an unprecedented eruption of suffering, symbolised by Bucha; it evoked long-lost old-new images, but also became a turning point setting the entire discursive map in motion. This turn in thinking is linked to the return of war as the central figure framing the world in which we live. The war in Ukraine has also set in motion profound processes at the centre of which is decolonisation. However, the decolonisation of Russian politics, Russian imperialism and Russian culture (its ‘innocence’) is not – again – a gesture abstracted from a broader background, but, before our eyes, becomes part of a turn aimed at restoring epistemic justice. To decolonise means to be disobedient. The notion of disobedience takes us, again, to school: where we acquire knowledge and are taught to be obedient. At the same time, decolonisation involves the realisation of the need to go beyond learned and a priori accepted frameworks, categories and concepts. “Back to school,” however, occurs not to continue learning, but to unlearn what has been learned with such difficulty. After February 24, 2022, we are observers of this accelerated process.

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