The form of our discussions now shifts. Rather than asking a discussion leader to select a short text and lead a discussion focused on it alone, we thought it would be more interesting to assemble a range of shorter texts, images and art pieces connected by a particular theme.

For our next meeting, we will be discussing art and its relationship to war. We'll be focusing on whether or not art serves any purpose in times of war, how it can complicate notions of spectatorship and whether artists have moral obligations to respond to violence. We are asking that everyone read two pieces by Susan Sontag (critic) and a poem published last month by Iryna Vikyrchak (poet) and have also attached links to other pieces we hope you all look into.

Main List

- Waiting for Godot in Sarajevo by Susan Sontag
- Chapter 2 of Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag
- 'Ukraine. Untitled Poem' by Iryna Vikyrchak (who used to be Olga Tokarczuk's assistant) - https://www.eurolitnetwork.com/poetry-travels-with-anna-blasiak-and-lisa-kalloo-ukraine-untitled-poem-by-iryna-vikyrchak/

Additional Materials‍

- 'We Lived Happily During the War' by Ilya Kaminsky - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/91413/we-lived-happily-during-the-war
- 'The Falling Soldier' by Robert Capa - https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/283315 & about whether or not it was staged https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/arts/design/18capa.html
- 'The Disasters of War' by Francisco Goya: https://fristartmuseum.org/exhibition/goya-the-disasters-of-war/
- Interview with Don McCullin - https://www.canon-europe.com/pro/stories/don-mccullin-interview/
- The Iliad, or The Poem of Force by Simone Weil
- Collection of 'Poems of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment' by Poetry Foundation: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/collections/101581/poems-of-protest-resistance-and-empowerment

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