Notes of Lev Manovich, February 24/March 6, 2022

By Geert Lovink, March 6, 2022

February 24, 2022 In summer 2019 I spent a month in Kyiv. It is a most amazing city – a bit of Rome, Paris Rio de Janeiro, and Bangkok together – but with its own unique vitality, creativity, and energy (some of the most talented artists and other cultural figures of “Russian avant-garde” of 1910s-1920 [...]

Dispatches from the Place of Imminence, part 3

By Svitlana Matviyenko, March 5, 2022

February 27, 2o22 – March 5, 2022 I thought it’s just me, but Asia says she is losing sense of what day it is. I feel the same, not all the time, but some moments, definitely. Writing stops, only fragmented notes are made, but I will now bring them together by reminding myself what I [...]

Pulsations of Dis/information: Diary of Kateryna Kobzdar, Lviv-Berlin, part 2

By Karyna Lazaruk, March 4, 2022

“I never thought I’ll be a refugee,” a colleague wrote in a Facebook group chat. Me neither. While the Ukrainian army and citizens bravely defend my homeland, I write this diary from Berlin. I check if my friends in Kyiv are fine by the green circle in the Facebook chat or through the “last seen” [...]

On Small and Big History, Reflections from a Sleepless Night by Yuliya Yurchuk

By Geert Lovink, March 1, 2022

The third sleepless night. I badly want to check on my father, but what if he is peacefully sleeping and I will just rob him of this ultimate joy – sleep? I am taking notes instead. Yesterday night, last time I spoke with my father, it was totally dark on my telephone’s screen. He could [...]

Dispatches from the Place of Imminence, part 2

By Svitlana Matviyenko, February 27, 2022

February 25-26, 2022 The first day of war leaves 137 dead, 316 injured; by the end of the third, the numbers are up to 198, including 3 children, and 1,115 injured, 33 of which are children. Among the killed, as we learn on the morning of the 25th, are thirteen border guards of Snake Island [...]

Dispatches from the Place of Imminence, part 1

By Svitlana Matviyenko, February 25, 2022

I began this diary two months ago when our everyday life started showing the signs of persistent militarization in response to the Russian troops building up near the Ukrainian border. Registering the nuances of this transformation seemed important. Like many, I thought the tension would dissolve, but this is a war diary now. February 12-13, [...]

Dmytro Chepurnyi: Letter from Ukraine (February 22, 2022)

By Geert Lovink, February 25, 2022

(This is an email, posted on the nettime list by Janos Sugar and published here with the consent of the author Dmytro Chepurnyi. Keep in mind: this was written before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. On Twitter Ileana Nachescu @Ileana_voix remarked: “In hours and hours of coverage by the BBC, and hours [...]

Open Call – Amplifying Voices from Inside the Ukrainian War Zone

By Anonymous, February 24, 2022

The Institute of Network Cultures is in solidarity with those affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We are open to any form of reflections, tactical tools, notes, witness material, and reports from or connected to the war zone. INC wants to amplify the artistic, activist, academic, and critical voices of all those influenced by [...]

Pulsations of Dis/information: Diary of Kateryna Kobzdar from Lviv, Ukraine

By Kateryna Kobzdar, February 22, 2022

Ukrainians have been living in a permanent state of hybrid war with Russia since February 2014, when Russia occupied Crimea and part of Donbas. But the new cycle of Russian aggression against Ukraine began in May 2021. Spontaneously and unprecedentedly, Russia started to deploy troops near the borders of Ukraine. Here are small fragments of [...]