On 17 September 2024, the fifth edition of the Exercising Modernity Academy will begin at the Pilecki Institute Berlin. This year’s lectures, seminars, workshops and discussions will revolve around the theme of “Geographies of Modernity – communities, discourses and ruptures”. The Academy is organised by the Pilecki Institute Berlin in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Exercising Modernity 2024 – Geographies of Modernity

Exercising Modernity is an interdisciplinary programme for artistic and intellectual exchange that examines Polish contribution to the heritage of modernity, especially in the international context. Starting from the first edition’s historical topics, it has evolved into a platform for artistic and scientific reflection on the place of Central and Eastern Europe in modern history.

This year’s edition expands the research area of the previous editions of the Exercising Modernity Academy. Emphasis was placed on issues related to the formation of societies under conditions of changing borders. That is why this year’s edition includes presentations dedicated to Belarussian avant-garde, the Kyiv art scene phenomenon or futurist experiments in the field of post-war modernist architecture in Eastern Europe. 

Central and Eastern European architecture and its place in modern history

In the 20th century, Central and Eastern Europe witnessed border changes and forced migrations due to wars and social experiments based on ideological concepts. Effects of these actions and processes can still be traced. The main theme of the edition will be architecture treated as a seismograph of historical and social changes. The analysis of the discussed issues will also take into consideration the contexts of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

17 participants from Poland, Germany, Israel, Ukraine and Belarus will attend the workshops. 18 mentors supervise the entire programme. Aleksandra Janus, Małgorzata Jędrzejczyk and Hanna Radziejowska are curators of the project. Interested persons from Berlin will also have a chance to participate in open events.

A detailed programme of events and dossiers of researchers are available in the social media of the Exercising Modernity Project. We invite you to follow.

The event is organised by the Pilecki-Institut Berlin. The partner of the event is the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.