“What shall we do without our barbarians?” — asks Konstantinos Kavafis, and in this question resonates an anxiety about identity. Who are we without those before whom our true faces can be revealed — sorrowful in failure, elated in triumph, simply human?
In postmodernity, each of us follows the path of the nomad, leaving places that have become unbearable and searching for the truth of “physical proximity and spiritual distance” (Bauman). In a world where — as Milan Kundera writes — the “continuation” is uncertain, both delight and suffering intensify.
No one is “at home” anymore. So what is barbarism today?
And who benefits from the economy of stigma?
We will discuss the Orwellian visions fuelled by a contemporary “Ministry of Truth” — imaginaries that undermine intimacy and replace it with fear and destruction. We will also consider whether it is possible to restore the primal scene of human encounter (Levinas), and whether, in a future stripped of stability, the past might yet save us.
Since our meeting serves as an “introduction to barbarian studies,” we would like to:
– First: examine the category of “barbarism” in historical and social contexts, and reflect on it in relation to ourselves.
Who is today’s “barbarian,” compared to the figure constructed in earlier evaluative discourses?
Does the “I” have the right to capture alterity through the lens of normative deviance and stigma?
– Second: outline possible transformations of the concept of the barbarian in the context of artistic practice and research on diversity, inclusion, and centre–margin dynamics. Drawing on contemporary social, political, philosophical and artistic thought, we will consider the place of today’s outsiders.
– Third: engage with Paul B. Preciado’s idea from Dysphoria mundi:
“We do not see or understand the world; we perceive it by breaking it down through the narrow categories in which we live.”
Is coexistence possible in a world of fallen ideas built on suspicion?
Do we still need sharp definitions?
What allows a person to look into another’s face without fear — and instead with admiration?
This discussion centres on the right to difference. We want to question it and experience it. Difference sparks imagination, art and thought. We reject fear and the tyranny of “correct” interpretation. In the spirit of Barthes’ non-vouloir saisir — renouncing possessive understanding that binds and imprisons — we move toward ecstatic liberations and new ways of unknowing. We meet not in domination, but in conversation and diversity.
But is it still possible — as Hannah Arendt hoped — to ask how to live together in community?
Speakers:
Bartosz Szydłowski — theatre director, head of Łaźnia Nowa Theatre in Kraków, founder and Artistic Director of the Divine Comedy International Theatre Festival (since 2008). Nominee for the Polityka Passport Award; laureate of the Silver and Gold Medals “Gloria Artis.” Graduate of Film Studies at the Jagiellonian University and of Directing at PWST Kraków. His work combines social engagement, political reflection and attention to the role of art in public life. He has created performances based on Sophocles, Zapolska, Lorca, Mrożek, Stendhal and Shakespeare.
Monika Płatek — professor of law at the University of Warsaw, expert in criminal law and criminology. Researcher of human rights, inclusion of marginalized communities, and women’s and minority rights. Founder and president of the Polish Association for Legal Education; former plenipotentiary of the Polish Ombudsman for victims of crime. Member of Open Society networks and the Council of Europe, as well as the programme council of the Wiktor Osiatyński Archive. Decorated with the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
Mery Spolsky — singer, songwriter and composer. Performer at leading Polish festivals including Open’er, Pol’and’Rock and Męskie Granie. Double nominee for the Fryderyk Awards. Host of Era Spolsky on Radio Nowy Świat. Author of the book I’m Marysia and I Think I Might Kill Myself Today. Juror in You Can Dance and Drag Me Out. LGBTQ+ ally.
Cveta Dmitrova — philosopher and psychotherapist; co-author of the podcast Our Internal Conflicts (TOK FM). Publishes in major Polish outlets including Gazeta Wyborcza and Polityka. Specializes in the psychology of suffering.
Moderator:
Remigiusz Ryziński — philosopher and writer, university professor; fellow of numerous institutions including the French Government, the Schuman Foundation, Nippon Foundation, the City of Warsaw and others. Translator and theorist of feminism, masculinity studies and gender/queer theory. Studied under Julia Kristeva in Paris.
Author of acclaimed books including Foucault in Warsaw, Stranger Than Fiction, My Life Is Mine and Operation Hyacinth. Laureate of the NatWest LGBT+ Diamonds Award (2018). Founder of the Queer Book Festival in Warsaw.
Photo of Monika Płatek by Adrian Grycuk, CC BY-SA 3.0 PL
