Lecture by Anna Khaietska “The Body as a Symptom of Time”
As part of the public program for the exhibition “Without Asking Permission,” on Thursday, August 13 at 6:30 PM, we invite you to a lecture titled “The Body as a Symptom of Time” by Anna Khaietska.
The exhibition “Without Asking Permission” shows how artists reflected on the body in response to changes in Ukrainian society between the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity, advocating for equal rights and the importance of personal freedoms. Much of the artistic practice of that period reimagined (post-)Soviet notions of the body — offering, instead of the “normal,” controlled body, bodies that are real, vulnerable, and imperfect.
During the lecture, we will try to explore the roots of these mechanisms — social, cultural, and psychological — which still shape our attitudes toward the body today.
We will look for answers to questions such as:
- How are ideas about beauty, normality, and acceptability formed, and why do they change over time?
- Body positivity: a movement of emancipation or a new form of normativity — and what is it criticized for?
- Why do certain expressions of embodiment still provoke strong social reactions, and where does the need to judge and control others’ bodies come from?
- What lies behind the cult of youth, the fear of aging, and practices of body modification?
- What mechanisms of control over the body exist today?
- The event will take place on the 3rd floor, in the exhibition space.
Participation is free with prior registration. Places are limited.
About the speaker: Anna Khaietska is editor-in-chief of Wonder Media, founder of “Her Support” — a psychological platform for women and LGBTQI+ people — and a psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapist.
