This new step is also fueled by concern about political crises and taken with special attention for researchers, artists, and cultural institutions in need.

We mark the occasion with a final edition of Eastsplainers, a public lecture series that Ellen co-organized. In this series, intellectuals, researchers, curators, and artists with personal ties to e.g. Komi, Kyiv, Lviv, Minsk, Moscow, Prague, and Warsaw offered a counterbalance to ‘westsplaining’ – the habit of viewing Central and Eastern Europe mostly through Western lenses.

In October, Ellen re-offers the stage to three memorable Eastsplainers:

• political scientist Olga Burlyuk (UvA, on her award-winning research into epistemic inequality in thinking about Ukraine),
• composer/pianist Hanna Shybayeva (who introduces her initiative Music for Belarus and shares clips of her performance of Oxana Omelchuk's music),
• filmmaker Ena Sendijarević (we will view fragments from her film Take Me Somewhere Nice and her work for the Bosnian Girl collective).

The programme at VOX-POP runs from 17:00 to 18:30, followed by drinks.

Attendance is free, but we kindly ask guests to register via secr-slavisch-fgw@uva.nl.

If you would like to contribute, you are welcome to make a voluntary donation to the UNE mentoring programme – a support initiative for Eastern European students, researchers, and artists at risk that Ellen co-founded. Donations can be made via Stichting UNE Foundation: NL67TRIO0320631265. Contributions are welcome, but of course entirely optional.