"After DECONFINING. Narratives of Proximity and Distance" panel discussion

How do we question the systems through which knowledge is produced, shared and legitimised?

Now in its 24th edition, Survival Art Review transforms unexpected spaces across Wrocław into sites for artistic interventions, exhibitions, performances, and public discussions. Its main exhibition unfolds in the former Wrocław University Hospital and brings together contemporary art, sound, and critical reflection on science, violence, memory and the unknown.

As part of the programme, Contemporary Lynx partners with Survival Art Review for a discussion moderated by Patrycja Rozwora, reflecting on four years of the international project ‘Deconfining – Arts, Culture and Policies in Europe and Africa’. Together with representatives of cultural institutions and academia from Tanzania, Poland, and Hungary, we will discuss what remains after long-term international collaboration—and how Africa–Europe partnerships might evolve in a changing global landscape.

Join us for the discussion panel “After DECONFINING. Narratives of Proximity and Distance”. The conversation will feature Lilian Hypolite Mushi, Urszula Markowska-Manista, Karolina Bieniek, and Barna Petrányi, and will be moderated by Patrycja Rozwora.

The panel will take place on 29 June at 5:30 p.m. at the Public Forum.

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BIO:

Barna Petrányi with academic background in economics he works for 20 years in the cultural sector. Since 2010 he is the leader of Pro Progressione. Barna has held board positions in the Association of Hungarian Independent Theatres and the advisory board of IETM, and since 2019, he has been a board member of MitOst e.V.

Pro Progressione is a creative hub and a cultural think-tank based in Hungary, Budapest. With several international project, we aim to empower the cultural and creative sectors that they become the leading force of social change. We believe, that the cultural and creative sectors should become the leading force of social change! Pro Progressione is official partner of the New European Bauhaus.

Karolina Bieniek is Director of the ART TRANSPARENT Foundation, Doctor of Social Sciences, a specialist in foreign policy and cultural diplomacy. She has experience in organising work and managing projects with a value of EUR 2+ million, including dozens of cultural and social ventures of regional, national and international scope. Her special focus is on building sustainable European-African relations. She co-organised events as part of the European Culture Congress and co-authored Wrocław’s application in the 2016 European Capital of Culture competition. Graduate of the TANDEM international programme for cultural managers and the BASECAMP Eastern Europe & Central Asia 2021 School of System Change, winner of the “30 Creative Wroclawians 2017” competition, member of the Central Europe Coordination Group of the Bosch Alumni Network from 2021 to 2022.

Lilian Hipolyte is a Creative Director, Brand Strategist, and Service Designer with 15+ years of experience across East Africa and the UK. Originally trained as a painter-sculptor, her practice evolved into UX and product design, spanning roles as design director, project manager, and mentor. She has worked in Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, and the UK, and currently serves as Director of Nafasi Art Space. Lilian works at the intersection of art and design, building purpose-driven brands that foster sustainability in creative and cultural industries, with expertise in digital transformation and institutional development.

Urszula Markowska-Manista, PhD – researcher in the area of education and childhoods in culturally diverse environments, conducting interdisciplinary fieldwork in a variety of contexts (the Horn of Africa, Central Africa, Central & Eastern Europe, and the South Caucasus). Her work draws on inclusive and participatory approaches, decolonial methodologies, interclusion, ‘difficult knowledge’ and sensitive topics. She has been active in the social sciences for two decades, implementing international projects and holding positions at universities in Poland and Germany. From 2016-2021 she was a director (FU Berlin 2016) and co-director (2017-2021 FH Potsdam) of the international MA Childhood Studies and Children’s Rights (MACR) programme and from 2017-2018 a head of the UNESCO Janusz Korczak Chair at the Maria Grzegorzewska University. She is currently a researcher and assistant professor at the University of Warsaw (Faculty of Education). Among her publications are books, including Konkultura: Wymiary uczestnictwa w kulturze młodych imigrantów z Ukrainy w Polsce (co-author, 2020) and  Non-inclusive education in Central and Eastern Europe: comparative studies of teaching ethnicity, religion and gender (co-editor, 2022) as well as articles in journals and book chapters for Sage, Routledge, Springer and others. She is the regional editor of Bloomsbury Publishers on the subject of Childhood and Youth. In 2015, she received Polityka award for her academic activity.

Patrycja Rozwora (b. 1994) is an artist, podcast host and a freshly baked mother from Warsaw, based in Berlin. She holds a BA in Fine Arts and Design from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and an MA from the Critical Studies Department at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. Since 2020 she is hosting a podcast called Kitchen Conversations where she invites artists and other creatives to share their work in the context of the broadly speaking Eastern Europe. Her practice focuses on curatorial and hosting strategies, creating spaces—physical and virtual—for collective learning and exchange. 

In the recent years Patrycja has worked as a host and moderator for Contemporary Lynx, ARTE TV (Tracks East), Galeria Miejska Arsenał (Pawilon), FilmPolska, FilmFestival Cottbus and Berlinale (Forum).