What is happening in Ukraine today has happened many times before.

For five centuries, an empire lacking new ideas has been repeating the same scenario: manipulating, attacking, erasing. Together, we’ll examine this from three different angles—through a lecture, a performance, and an interview.

Ukrainian-Czech author Maksym Eristavi will present a lecture based on the book Russian Colonialism 101 (published in Czech as *Russian Colonialism: A Guide*), his illustrated guide to the last century of Russian imperial invasions.

Crimean Tatar artist Aziza Eskender will follow with a performance conveying her people’s centuries-long struggle against Russian colonial erasure.

Subsequently, the two will come together in a conversation with Ukrainian-Czech artist and researcher Daria Lukyanenko about how recognizing the imperial narrative can help us defend against it in the Czech context as well.

Maksym Eristavi is a journalist and award-winning writer born in Ukraine. He is the author of the guide *Russian Colonialism 101* and describes himself as the “chief storyteller on Russian colonialism.” He has long sought to raise global awareness of the legacy of Russian colonialism. For more information, visit: maksymeristavi.com.

Aziza Eskender is a Crimean Tatar trip-hop musician, composer, and multidisciplinary artist. Through music, symbols, dance, and painting, she explores her own journey and that of her people—from the darkness of the spiritual and physical subjugation of their homeland, language, and consciousness toward a liberation that can give rise to new ideas and a new history for the indigenous peoples of Ukraine. To preserve their nation, they must achieve justice and, through it, the ability to determine their own destiny.

Darja Lukjanenko is an interdisciplinary artist, activist, and educator. Her research focuses on the postcolonial situation in regions affected by Soviet imperialism, with a special emphasis on Ukraine, as well as on the themes of migration, identity, and collective memory. She lectures on contemporary art at the Faculty of Arts and Design (FUD) at the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University (UJEP) and, since 2025, has co-led the Free Art Studio there with Martin Krupa.

The event will be held in English.