Ieva Sakelaite, PhD candidate at Vilnius University, Institute of International Relations and Political Science
on
To be seen vulnerable: Artivism for Ukraine as Expressions of Collective Agency in Regional Crisis
Ieva Šakelaitė is a PhD candidate at Vilnius University, the Institute of International Relations and Political Science. Ieva’s doctoral research concerns connections between visibility in public spaces and collective agency, focusing on artivism in support of Ukraine in Lithuania. Her work is interdisciplinary, drawing on visual studies, feminist theory, international relations, and political theory. Ieva holds an MA in Politics and Media (2022) and a BA in Scandinavian studies (2017), both from Vilnius University, and an MA in Literature, Culture and Media (2019) from Lund University. Currently, Ieva teaches a BA course on Feminist theory at Vilnius University.
About the presentation: In her study, Ieva Šakelaitė contributes to the literature on the visuality of collective agency by examining the surge of public artistic activism in Lithuania in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While much scholarship on artistic activism within visual studies emphasizes symbolic resistance to dominant discourses, these demonstrations do not overtly resist hegemonic narratives; rather, they align with the Lithuanian government’s position on the war in Ukraine. Drawing on feminist theorists Judith Butler and Saba Mahmood, she proposes conceptualizing these demonstrations beyond the paradigms of resistance and subversion. Instead, Ieva argues that they express and enact collective vulnerability, articulated through visual motifs of suffering, wounded, and vulnerable bodies. Her research examines how artivism can simultaneously sustain hegemonic narratives—such as nationalism and victimhood—while functioning as a form of agentic politics that renders care visible, fosters horizontal ties, and builds affective solidarities among post-imperial subjects of the former Soviet empire.
About the Workshop: We kindly ask all Zoom participants to read the paper in advance. The workshop will open with a short presentation by Ieva Šakelaitė, followed by an open discussion and Q&A drawing on both the presentation and the paper.
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