Are we entering into a cultural shift in the perception of Eastern Europe? Russian invasion of Ukraine has made the world finally listen and shifted the perception of the region in the world. Embattled Ukraine is finally seen as independent. At the same time, Poland and several other countries from the former Soviet bloc are experiencing an economic rise on an unprecedented scale. Are we about to shake off the stigma of “post-communist” forever and change our destiny? Or is the suffering of Ukraine the Real on which this benefit of the rest of the region is predicated?
Agata Pyzik, the author of Poor but Sexy. Culture Clashes in Europe East and West, in conversation with critic and curator Francesco Tenaglia, revisits concepts of this 2014-published book and asks questions: is this a traumatic moment, which will transform the region or only yet again the triumph of the dark, imperialist, capitalist powers?