Discussion: “Why We Need to Talk About Crimea”

Rory Finnin, Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge, Oksana Dovgopolova, a co-founder of the Past / Future / Art memory culture platform, and Alim Aliev, deputy director at the Ukrainian Institute, were invited as speakers to discuss the peninsula’s complex history, culture, and geopolitical significance.

Russia began its war on Ukraine by occupying Crimea in 2014, when the “little green men” came and took it by force. Rory Finnin emphasizes that returning Crimea to Ukraine is the only path to lasting peace. The Russian Crimea is a colonial myth ingrained through many years of repression and ethnic cleansing of Crimean Tatars. But what can Europeans do now, while the peninsula is still under occupation? The scholar offers to de-occupy Crimea cognitively: look into and try to understand its history, culture, and geography.

At the European Forum on Culture, Past / Future / Art and Ukrainian Institute presented two works of contemporary authors about Crimea: the recording of Biñ Baş (2025), a performance by Khalil Khalilov and Vlodko Kaufman, and Drawing Session on Crimea’s History (2023), Alevtina Kakhidze’s video meditation on the loss of and search for identity.

Cover photo:
Oleksandr Hnylytskyi and Oleg Holosiy, “Defense of Sevastopol” (fragment), oil on canvas, 1991–1992
Courtesy of Lesja Zajac and Ksenia Hnylytska