Conferences and summer schools

Online Biennale from 28 to 29 November 2025

The ERUA Online Biennale 2025 "Arts & Edges" presents projects and collaborations at the interface of culture, civil society and sustainability: Dr habil. Chiara Pierobon and her students will provide insights into civic engagement in Frankfurt (Oder), as well as contributions from the Bundesverband Soziokultur e.V. on minimum ecological standards in culture, an interview with artist Joanna Rajkowska about her art installation "Sorry" in Frankfurt (Oder) and Warsaw and presentations by Maria Ullrich on Frankfurt-Słubice Pride and Michael Kurzwelly on the Slubfurt project. There will also be open workshops on student cultural initiatives, teaching projects for regional cultural activities and artistic eco-activism.

The workshops offer a space to make contacts, exchange ideas and develop future collaborations with a view to the 2027 Biennale. In addition to participating in one of the workshops, listeners are also cordially invited. Please note that the event will be held in English and exclusively online. Registration and the final programme will be available from 14 November.

Language: English
Location: online

32nd Conference of the German-Polish Working Group for Art History and Monument Conservation, 4 to 6 December 2025

The interest in disused, decaying building structures seems to have a long history. This is evidenced by examples of archaeological tourism since ancient times. At certain times, the contemplation of ruins played a formative role in European culture, as evidenced by the pictorial worlds of Panini, Piranesi, C.D. Friedrich, Pompeian salons and artificial ruins in the gardens of European residences.

In late modernism, not least as part of the "spatial turn", the ruin returns as a metaphor for contingency. This time it does not primarily stand for endurance and the timelessness of the imperial or sublime. Rather, it functions - in line with the acceleration of world events - as a symbol for the changing times of modernity, for transformations, shrinking processes and for the destructive violence of wars.

While the preservation of monuments in Western countries is concerned with the legal protection of disused railway stations, industrial complexes, barracks, churches and, most recently, department stores, something else is going on under the radar of institutions. The processes of decay have long since become a source of fascination for the globally networked Urbex scene. The morbid aura of modern ruins is perceived as an expression of the "authentic" and as an antithesis to the all-encompassing economisation of cultural assets. Entering abandoned building complexes is a special kind of physical experience, a savouring of atmospheres. The immersive experience is processed photographically and disseminated to the relevant communities via social media. But beyond our reality, the theme of ruin is also utilised by the virtual games and entertainment industry: AI-generated films and games deliver the coveted, post-apocalyptic scenarios to order. The ruin is therefore a metaphor for the state of the planet in the age of the Anthropocene.

Unfortunately, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe were and are currently confronted with war ruins to a particular extent. In this respect, the topic offers numerous approaches as a leitmotif for this year's conference of the German-Polish Working Group for Art History and Monument Conservation.
It is intended to pursue a comparative objective in terms of time and space, illuminating connecting lines and ruptures in the reflection on ruins.

The following aspects could play a role:

• Spatial and temporal varieties of ruin reflection
• War ruins and questions of identity
• Post-transformational landscapes of decay
• Atmospheres and bodily experience of "lost places"
• Mediality and semiotics of ruins
• Imagined / dystopian ruinscapes in the arts and popular culture

In addition to the thematic presentations (speaking time max. 20 min.), the information exchange of the working group offers a forum for the presentation of current individual or institutional research projects (short presentations, max. 10 min.) on issues of common cultural heritage in Eastern Europe.

Conference languages are German and English (possibly also Polish, if funds are available for simultaneous translation).

Please send a synopsis of your (unpublished) contribution (2,400 characters), a short CV and details of your current position by 15 September 2025 to:

Europa-Universitaet Viadrina
Prof. Dr Paul Zalewski
Grosse Scharrnstrasse 57
15230 Frankfurt (Oder)
Email: zalewski@europa-uni.de

Location: European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)

Workshop, 26-27 March 2026

An increasing number of democracies around the world are subject to processes of 'autocratisation' or 'democratic backsliding'. Within the European Union, several states are affected by multifaceted authoritarian tendencies. In Hungary and in Poland, right-wing governments have dismantled democracy and the rule of law, with Slovakia since 2023 having embarked on a similar path of autocratisation. In Germany, the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) is set to win the upcoming general elections in some Eastern states and is likely to put democracy under pressure. One more recent non-European example is the United States under President Donald Trump's second presidency, where, for example, media pluralism and the independence of the judiciary have come under threat.

While research has mostly analysed processes of autocratisation and, in particular, actors driving these processes, actors resisting those attempts have been largely neglected (Gamboa 2022). Hence, opposition to autocratic tendencies has received disproportionately less academic attention than the actions of autocratic incumbents. This workshop centres on all forms of opposition to trends of populism, autocratization and democratic backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe (including Germany), with the aim to enhance our still limited theoretical and empirical knowledge on opposition activities. It is guided by two major questions:

1) Who are the opposition actors?
2) At which levels do these opposition actors operate?

To apply, please submit an abstract of max. 300 words plus a brief biographical note (max. 100 words) by 5 December 2025.

Location: European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)

Language: English

Feminist Spring School on Labour and Social Law, 16 to 20 March 2026

Does labour and social law have a gender? What role does it play in maintaining or reducing inequalities? How can it support equal (family) employment and care work? What role does gender play in companies, trade unions and other structures? How are the interactions of discrimination and inequalities addressed? And what strategies can contribute to a fairer world of work?

If you would also like to discuss these questions, but not just from a legal perspective, then apply to take part in the Feminist Spring School on Labour and Social Law.

The event is aimed at students with a legal background. A scholarship will be awarded for participation. Applications can be submitted until 14 December 2025.

Location: European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)

Language: German