Book presentation and discussion: “Survival and Witness at Europe’s Border” by Karina Horsti

We are excited to welcome Karina Horsti as our guest in the exhibition “Dangerous Border”! On June 19 at 6pm, she will present her book “Survival and Witness at Europe’s Borders” at Kunstverein Dresden. The event is hosted by Kerstin Schankweiler and will be held in English.

Karina Horsti is Visiting Professor at University of Minnesota (2023–2025) and University Lecturer in Cultural Policy at University of Jyväskylä. Her research focuses on migration, media, memory politics and culture. She also collaborates with artists and museums, assisting with exhibitions and artwork related to migration and writing essays in catalogues. She is the author of “Survival and Witness at Europe’s Border: The Afterlives of a Disaster” (Cornell University Press, 2023).

The event at Kunstverein Dresden addresses cultural memory of present-day violent bordering of Europe. It proposes that focus on survival adds an important temporal aspect to the issue of migrant deaths at borders. This awareness of temporality - that the present will one day be past -  allows us to imagine possible futures, potentially prompting a vision of a convivial future society: a society shared by both those whose governments created the border and those who managed to cross it. Further, we anticipate that in the future, others may examine and judge the present, just as we currently examine the violent events of the past. The specters haunting the present are not only from the past but also from the future. The talk draws on the book Survival and Witness at Europe’s Border.

Wednesday, 19th of June, 6-8pm
Kunstverein Dresden (Neustädter Markt 8, 01097 Dresden)
Moderated by Prof. Kerstin Schankweiler.
The event will be in English only.

Further information on the book