17:00 – EXTRACTING THE FUTURE: THE SOCIALIST ANTHROPOCENE THROUGH ARTIST’S EYES. Maja and Reuben Fowkes (University College London)

Maja and Reuben Fowkes are co-directors of the Postsocialist Art Centre at University College London and founding directors of the Translocal Institute for Contemporary Art. They are experts in the intersections of contemporary art and environmental humanities, with a specific focus on ecocritical perspectives in post-socialist contexts.

17:30 – KHRUSHCHEV’S UTOPIA: TSELINOGRAD DURING THE VIRGIN LANDS CAMPAIGN (1953-1964) – Alen Askar (KIMEP University)

Alen Askar is a historian and academic at KIMEP University, specializing in Soviet history and the cultural transformation of Central Asia during the 20th century. His research explores the socio-political impacts of Khrushchev’s Virgin Lands campaign and its effects on the development of the city of Tselinograd.

18:00 THE SECRETS OF LAKE BALKHASH. Aigerim Kapar

Aigerim is an interdependent curator, researcher, and activist focused on art and decolonial practices.

18:30 – DISCUSSION

19:00 – FILM SCREENING. Where Russia Ends (2024) by Oleksiy Radynski

Oleksiy Radynski is a Ukrainian filmmaker and a Creative Fellow in the Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts (SAVA) research project at University College London. The film explores the exploitation and erasure of Indigenous lands in Siberia under Russian imperialism, from the Tsarist period through the Soviet era and into modern times.