Public conversation between Galyna Kotliuk and Catherine Lutz
“Trauma in Transit — Cross-Border Testimonies in Gabrielle Goliath’s Personal Accounts?”

On Friday, October 24, at 6:30 p.m., we invite you to a public conversation between Galyna Kotliuk and Catherine Lutz as part of the exhibition “Personal Accounts” by Gabrielle Goliath, to explore the themes of trauma, the politics of emotions, and the intersection of personal and collective experiences in different socio-political, cultural, and geographical contexts. 

The event will take place on the 2nd floor of the PinchukArtCentre in the exhibition space. The format is hybrid: Catherine Lutz will join online, and Galina Kotlyuk will participate in person. Participation is free, with prior registration.

The event will be held in English. 

In the conversation, anthropologist Catherine Lutz and cultural researcher Galyna Kotliuk will address the theoretical foundations of Gabrielle Goliath’s Personal Accounts, discussing in particular:

• Collective memory and individual stories. How do personal experiences of trauma become part of a shared testimony without losing their individuality?
• Intersections of cultures and contexts. How does Gabrielle Goliath’s art bring together different forms of violence and trauma (colonial, patriarchal, militarized) while preserving the political and cultural specificity of each case?
• Audience responsibility and spaces of support. What role do we, as viewers, take on when encountering trauma in art, and what possibilities does art offer for mutual care and understanding?

About the speakers:

• Galyna Kotiuk is Program Coordinator for Gender Democracy at the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Kyiv–Ukraine office, and co-editor of the expert media platform Gender in Details. Her research focuses on Russian colonialism and postcolonial perspectives on gender roles in Ukraine. She actively promotes the integration of gender-sensitive approaches into Ukraine’s recovery processes.
• Catherine Lutz is the Thomas J. Watson Jr. Family Professor Emerita of Anthropology and International Studies at Brown University, and co-founded the Costs of War Project there.  She is the author of Unnatural Emotions, Homefront: A Military City and the American 20th Century, Reading National Geographic, and editor of War and Health and The Empire of Bases. She has consulted with the United Nations on sexual exploitation and abuse among peacekeepers and with the government of Guam on the U.S. military’s environmental and social impact.