Toto sympozium organizuje Středoevropská univerzita (CEU) ve Vídní a Francouzský ústav pro výzkum ve společenských vědách (CEFRES).

Kdy: 2.-3. října 2025
Kde: Kampus CEU, Quellenstrasse 51, Vídeň
Jazyk: angličtina
Pořadatelky: Valeriya Korablyova, Louisa Martin-Chevalier & Seema Sridhar

Teze

“The symposium aims to bring together variety of perspectives on creative expressions of women’s resistance through art and cultural diplomacy by engaging with academics, activists and conflict-affected artists. The event is conceived to gather insights from diplomats, scholars specialising in diverse academic streams on feminist scholarship, creative research methods, musicology; activists working with supporting and promoting exiled artists; and conflict-affected artists living in Europe.

Numerous studies in musicology and gender studies have shed light on the structural invisibility of women in the musical field — whether as performers, musicians, conductors, composers, sound artists or cultural producers more broadly (McClary 1991; Citron 1993; Cook & Tsou 1994; Green 1997; Ravet 2011; Koskoff 2014 ; Dunbar 2021). However, there remains a significant lack of research on the specific challenges faced by migrant and displaced women musicians, who often encounter additional layers of exclusion. These artists are situated at the intersection of gendered and geopolitical inequalities, particularly in light of the profound global disparities in women’s rights to freely practice music, as shown by the different geographical and cultural spheres presented in this symposium.

In contexts of war and forced displacement, this marginalisation tends to deepen, wars have a way of awakening stereotypes and gendered roles. Echoing this, recent UN reports confirm that armed conflict exacerbates gender-based inequalities and leads to increased violence against women. In this light, the symposium also seeks to interrogate how women artists — particularly those in exile or in conflict-affected societies — resist both the material violence of war and the symbolic violence of exclusion through their creative practices. Their acts of artistic expression become tools not only of survival and resilience, but of gendered agency and political presence.

Acknowledging the importance foregrounding the artistic journeys of women from conflict-affected regions who continue their fight against authoritarian regimes, violent patriarchy and religious extremism, armed aggression, the symposium would highlight their resilience, creativity, and underscore their crucial role in raising awareness about their cultural heritage which is at risk of being erased, and most importantly their contribution to re-shaping narratives. This is especially crucial in regions where women have been denied the opportunity to pursue arts, music, education, employment, and are being erased from public life.

The discussion would explore ways of enabling marginalised artists’ voices to be heard, amplified and acknowledged in the context of peacebuilding.  The programme seeks to illuminate ways in which different forms of women’s artistic expressions have played a role in resisting political violence, challenging existing social norms, transforming gender relations, addressing inequalities, transcending divisions, and creating platforms for peacebuilding and diplomacy. The participants at the intersection of academia, art and activism, shall address how artists have been creating platforms for building bridges with the community that they want to engage with while living in exile, and how they embody non-violent resistance through their artistic pursuits. By foregrounding how women artists organise themselves and promote conflict transformation on various scales, and exercise agency through their work and everyday lives, the symposium be would be a strong political statement expressing solidarity with the struggles and accomplishments of women from conflict-affected regions. It seeks to open up vibrant space for discussion and deliberation on how to move forward with amplifying the voices of artistic resistance through cultural diplomacy.

Program

Thursday, 2 October 2025

8:30 – 9:00  Registration

9.00 -10:00 Welcome to CEU & Opening Remarks

Michael Merlingen, Director, Doctoral School of Political Science, CEU

Mateusz Chmurski, Director, CEFRES, Prague

H.E Manizha Bhaktari, Afghan ambassador to Austria

Yurii Vitrenko, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the International Organizations in Vienna

Rasa Ostrauskaite, EU Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

10:00 – 11:30
Panel 1 – Music at the Interstices of Conflict, Identity and Resistance

Louisa Martin-Chevalier, Associate Professor, Sorbonne University

Valeriya Korablyova, Assistant Professor, Charles University

Razia Sultanova, Research Fellow, Cambridge Muslim College, UK

Moderators: CEU faculty/student

11:30 -12:00 Coffee Break

12:00 – 13:30
Panel 2 – Art at the Margins: Inequalities and Negotiated Spaces

Lydia Cole (online), Lecturer, University of Sussex

Guilia Pelilo, Professor, Diplomatische Akademie Wien

Ishraga Hamid, Writer and Human Rights Activist, Vienna

Moderators: CEU faculty/student

13.30 – 14.30 Lunch

14.30 – 16.00
Panel 3: Music, Minorities and Feminist Solidarity

Anja Brunner, Assistant Professor, University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna

Hyacinthe Ravet, Professor, Sorbonne University, Paris

Ursula Hemetek, Professor, University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna

Moderators: CEU faculty/student

16:00 – 16:15 Coffee Break

18.00-19:00 Dinner at Dschungel Theatre, Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Vienna (paid by participants)

19:00 – 20:30 Concert at Dschungel Theatre:
Ukrainian performers Alisa Kobzar and Anna Arkushyna

Performance by Fazila Zamer, Afghan Rubab player (subject to confirmation)

Friday, 3 October 2025

9:30 – 11:00
Panel 4:  Art, Affect, and Resistance

Dana Mckelvey, CEU

Seema Sridhar, CEU

Sara Whyatt, Director of NGO, Freemuse, UK

Moderators:  CEU faculty/student

11.00 – 11.30 Coffee Break

11.30- 13.00
Panel 5: Creative Methods: Case Studies and Ethical Challenges

Nilanjana Premaratna, Lecturer, Newcastle University

Diana Valencia Duarte, Lecturer, Aberystwyth University

Erzsebet Strausz, Assistant Professor, CEU

Moderator: CEU faculty/student

13:00 -14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 15:30
Panel 6: Intercultural Communication and Transformation

Zsuzsanna Arendas, Research Fellow, CEU, Vienna

Georgia Holmer, Peace and Security Specialist, The Hague, Netherlands

Sophie Raehme, CEU, Vienna

Discussant: CEU Faculty/student

15.30 – 16.00 Coffee Break

16.00 — 17.00 Walking Lab: Feminist History of Vienna

17.30.00 – 19.00    Performance by Afghan musicians, followed by Reception at Die Angewandte Atrium

Rojin Sharafi, Iranian sound artist
Afghan musician (performances subject to confirmation by funders)

@ Sonja Czeschka Pixabay