Bridging the Distance cycle of public discussions

Participants

Aynash Kozubaeva is the founder and director of Ayan Theater. Born in the city of Osh in Kyrgyzstan, she taught Russian language and literature there. Since 2016, Aynash has lived in Moscow. She works as a sales manager in a confectionery company while also running Ayan Theater.

Founded in 2018, the actors of Ayan Theater are Kyrgyzstan natives who live in labor migration in Moscow.

Sébastien Thiery holds a PhD in Political Science. He taught public law and political science at the Panthéon-Sorbonne University before continuing teaching and conducting research at the intersection of contemporary art and activism in the schools of art and architecture, as well as at the Sciences Po School of Political Arts, founded by Bruno Latour. Thierry is an active member of The Children of Don Quixote association. In 2012, he co-founded (with Gilles Clement) the Center for the Study of Urban Resources (PEROU) and has since led research on the problems of slums, bidonvilles, squats, and shelters of all kinds. A recipient of the Villa Medici Scholarship (2020), Thierry coordinates work within the framework of UNESCO, aimed at recognizing the act of hospitality as humanity’s intangible cultural heritage. He is a member of Multitude magazine’s editorial board and author of research reports, exhibitions, films, and books devoted to the study of slums.

Participants

Yaroslav Aleshin is a curator specializing in public projects. He graduated in Cultural Studies from the Faculty of Russian Philology and Culture of Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University. Since the early 2000s, Aleshin, as an independent activist, has organized and coordinated public projects at the Moscow City Library Center. Formerly the director of the Moscow State Vadim Sidur Museum (2015–2019), Aleshin currently curates exhibitions and urban integration programs at V-A-C Foundation, Moscow. He is also an author writing on contemporary art for Khudozhestvenny zhurnal (Moscow Art Journal), Dialog iskusstv (Dialogue of the Arts), AroundArt, and Spectate.

António Pedro Mendes is a curator, researcher, and coordinator of artistic projects. He is a team member of the Berlin art space SAVVY Contemporary, where he is a co-curator for the long-term project Colonial Neighbours and, among other things, was co-curator of the yearlong residency The Ground Waters are Connected. António’s interests encompass art and artistic spaces as means of communicating with broad publics about complex social, political, and economic realities, including the misconception of memory, identity, and representation in instrumentalized versions of history and official narratives. António works closely with local communities that are often excluded from cultural programs. He lives and works in Lisbon and Berlin.

Participants

Christoph Braun is a writer and sociologist. Braun arrived at the intersectional housing community Refugio in 2015, an experience enriching his life until today. After four years at Refugio, he went to work at another Berliner Stadtmission refugee home: Gemeinschaftsunterkunft Senftenberger Ring. His focus there is culture and education programs for 400 children and adults. The range of cooperations encompasses local initiatives such as the mentoring association kein Abseits! (No Offside!) to the state opera Staatsoper Berlin. He lives and works in Berlin. 

https://christophneptunbraun.com/