Social Technologies of Survival

Kula – a socio-economic system where valuables are exchanged around indigenous communities in Papua New Guinea – will be presented as a means of survival for these communities. The exchange of valuables creates and maintains mutual care between the islands, relationships which can be used during moments of crisis, such as a drought or cyclone. However, as these islanders are becoming more incorporated into our globalised world, Kula and its values of care are being gradually eroded, while not being replaced by comparable systems of care and survival.

What does it mean to live in a city during war? Many books have been written by historians, cultural scholars, anthropologists or witnesses of various hostilities in the past. Yet, in practice, the drastic transition from a peaceful to a war-time city always catches us by surprise. In this talk Viktoriia will offer insights into everyday life of Kharkiv, Ukraine.

This talk explores how Palestinian refugees in Berlin use graffiti as a form of political resistance and spatial reclamation. Focusing on visual
interventions—posters, stencils, and inscriptions—it highlights how these visual acts of resistance challenge German state repression, disrupt systematic censorship, and counter the silencing of pro-Palestinian voices. Graffiti emerges as more than an act of self-representation; it sparks dialogue with ideological opponents, counters erasure, provokes awareness, and asserts the right of graffiti artists to narrate their struggle