Conference Programme

25 May 2026, Pre-conference, doctoral workshop

12.15-16.00  Opening of the pre-Conference, Dr., Title of Docent, Joni Virkkunen, Director of the VERA Centre for Russian and Border Studies (UEF)

Keynote by Professor Sanna Turoma, Tampere University: Geopolitics — Everywhere and Nowhere? A View from Cultural Studies

Papers by doctoral students with expert & peer comments

Repurposing the Sacred: The Soviet Organ between Cultural Politics and Musical Practice by Mila Thoors, Sibelius Academy

Soldier representations in Russian Volkhov river song lyrics as expressions of cultural hegemony and critique by Maija Hämäläinen-Abdessamad, UEF

Case of Anna Netrebko, Putin´s nightingale in the West?  How the cancellation of an opera diva shows one reality of the soft power influence by Schulgin Sofia, UEF

Transmitting family memory as a practice in families of people in their 30s in contemporary Russia by Irina Kapitonova, University of Helsinki

Shamanism, Cultural Sovereignty and Ontological Security: Negotiating Indigenous Identities in Southern Siberia by Daria Kuznetsova, UEF

Identity Performance in the Northern Ireland Assembly: The Irish Language as a site of political contestation by Mairéad Lordan, UEF

17.00-21.00  Snacks, Film screening, and hangout

Almost in Russia (2023, 33 minutes). While having snacks, we will screen the film in the presence of its narrator and director, Ms Sanni Naukkarinen. She will introduce the film and discuss the filmmaking process, which was part of her MA studies at the Arctic University of Norway. The event will conclude with an informal hangout.

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26 May 2026, Conference Day 1

9.00-9.15  Opening of the Conference

9.15-10.30 Keynote talk I
Chair & Discussant: Professor Simo Mikkonen (UEF)

Unfinished Pasts, Contested Presents: Decolonisation or Recolonisation? A Georgian Perspective on Culture and Power by Associate Professor Nana Sharikadze (Caucasus University, Georgia)

10.30-12.00 Panel discussion 1: Culture as Civic activism in the ex-Soviet area, and beyond

Chair: Professor Marja Sorvari (UEF); Panellists: Dr. Connor Doak (University of Birmingham, UK), Associate Professor Nana Sharikadze (Caucasus University, Georgia), Professor Pekka Suutari (UEF)

12.00-13.00  Lunch break (self-funded)

13.00-14.30  Paper session 1: Art, Sound and Storytelling, room AU206, Chair:

Cultural Imaginaries of Borders: A Contextual Reflection through Arts-Based Research, Folklore and Comics by Kari Korolainen, UEF

Soft noises and silence: a sound artist looking for a way in anti-war expression by Kalev Tiits, Sibelius Academy of the University of Arts Helsinki

The Letters That Stitch the Border by Jaakko Ruuska, University of Lapland

14.30-15.00  Coffee

15.00-16.30 Paper session 2a: Memory and Belonging in the Wake of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, room AU206, Chair: Tamara Polyakova, UEF

Ethnic belonging and multimedia textile art from Russia’s national republics by Eeva Kuikka, University of Turku

Queering the vyshyvanka: Activism and belonging during the Russo-Ukrainian war by Vassa Yakymets, University of Eastern Finland

Temporality of an Unfinished War: Visual Culture as a Space for Mediating Experiences by Olesia Herashchenko, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

Paper session 2b: Culture, Expression and Political Change, room AU102, Chair:

The colour evolutions and memory by John Nelson, University of Helsinki

Breaking the Silence: Punalippu and the Rediscovery of Finnish Histories under Glasnost by Anna Laakkonen, UEF

Between Tradition and Geopolitics: The Political Uses of Culture in Bulgaria by Hristo Dokov, Sofia University, Bulgaria

19.00   Dinner and Get-together (for registered participants), Winter Swimming Centre Joensuu Polar Bears  Club, Mäntyniementie 1.

27 May 2026, Conference Day 2

9.15-10.30   Keynote talk II 
Chair & Discussant: Dr Pauliina Lukinmaa (UEF)

Choking on Words: Russophone Anti-War Poetry on the Invasion of Ukraine
by Dr Connor Doak (University of Bristol, UK)

10.30-12.00  Panel discussion 2: State uses of culture as power in the contemporary world

Chair: Professor Olga Davydova-Minguet (UEF); Panellists: Dr. Julia Bethwaite (Tampere University), Professor Katharina Kunter (University of Helsinki), Dr. Jussi Mäkelä (UEF), Professor Sanna Turoma (Tampere University)

12.00-13.00  Lunch break (self-funded)

13.00-14.30  Paper session 3a: Language, ideology and power,room AU206, Chair:

The Hold of Ideology on Linguistic Theories by Elena Bratishenko, University of Calgary, Canada

The impact of political biases on research on Russian culture in Finland by Larisa Leisiö, UEF

Empowerment through culture in a host society: Russian-language cultural NGOs in Finland by Tatiana Romashko and Rasa Žakevičiūtė, University of Jyväskylä

Paper session 3b: Cultural politics of memory, room AU102; Chair:

Transnational or Sovereign Muisti (Memory)? Ukrainian and Russian-Speaking Migrants as Museum Visitors by Tetiana Nahirniak, Daria Agapova, Olga Davydova-Minguet, Olga Filippova, UEF.

From Lenin Museum to Nootti: Reframing Soviet Heritage in Contemporary Finland by Lopatkina Katarina, The Nootti museum and The Finnish Labour Museum Werstas

Representing Women in War Narratives from World War I to World War II: Continuities and Disruptions by Polyakova Tamara, UEF, and Olga Simonova, University of Turku

14.30-15.00 Coffee break

15.00-16.30  Paper session 4: Borders, power, cultural resistance, room AU206, Chair:

Border Sensitivity in the Context of Changing Geopolitics by Gleb Yarovoy, UEF

Negotiating Iconography in Bishkek and Ulaanbaatar: Remain, Replace, Reorientate, Return by Alexander Diener, UEF

Skovoroda, Zhadan, Reggae and Cultural Resistance in Kharkiv: Towards Emotional Citizenship Perspective by Olga Filippova, UEF

16.30   End of the Conference