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Dr Dimitra Gkitsa
Alexander Nash Fellowship in Albanian Studies
SSEES
UCL SLASH
- Joined UCL
- 1st Sep 2021
Research summary
My research is situated in the intersection of memory studies, affect, activism, contemporary art and curatorial practices, and the post-socialist visual cultures, with a particular focus on the geo-political region of Southeast Europe.
Affective Commoning
My doctorate thesis, entitled Affective Commoning: Collective Curating in the Post-socialist Space, examined art collectives and collaborative practices in Albania, Serbia, and North Macedonia. This was developed by analysing the interventionist ways in which a younger generation of artists and curators in the region work with remnants of the post-socialist past, including public spaces, material objects, unofficial histories, and testimonies. In my thesis, I propose the term 'affective commoning' as a concept tool to describe a body of art and curatorial practices that common anew spaces and temporalities of the socialist past, transforming collective 'memory-work' into affective political action. I am currently preparing a monograph, based on this research.
Ecologies of Decay
During my research fellowship at UCL SSEES, I will be researching the legacy of post-industrialism in Albania. This will be developed through three main entry points: a) collecting experiences and testimonies of local communities in rural areas; b) researching and influencing current cultural and economic policies on post-industrial heritage; c) examining artistic and curatorial interventions that work directly with the abandoned industrial sites through performances, photography, installations, and exhibitions. The aim of this research project is to shed light to a currently under-represented modern heritage of the socialist past in Albania and to investigate the ways in which the visual and material cultures of post-industrialism can help us to understand broader issues related to the social and political transformations that followed after socialism.
Education
- Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences
- Masters, Master of Arts |
- Goldsmiths, University of London
- Masters, Master of Fine Arts |
- Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences
- First Degree, Bachelor of Arts |
- Goldsmiths, University of London
- Doctorate, Doctor of Philosophy |
Biography
I am a curator, cultural manager, and researcher. Holding postgraduate degrees in Curating (Goldsmiths, University of London) and Cultural Management (Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens), I completed doctorate studies in the department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London (2020). My PhD thesis analysed collective art practices in Southeast Europe. I have received scholarships from the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation (2014-2015 & 2016-2019) and the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY) of Greece (2010-2011). I hold a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education and I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.Before joining UCL SSEES as the Alexander Nash Fellow, I was an an Associate Lecturer in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London and a Module Leader in Critical and Cultural Studies (Fine Arts) at the University of Hertfordshire. In 2019, I worked as a Research Assistant on the AHRC funded project The Museums + AI Network. Outside academia I have collaborated with numerous non-for-profit art and cultural organisations, including the British Council in Athens and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, and I was involved in various aspects of public programming. Selected projects include: Machine Divas: The Archive (2015), Artists what is your collective value? (2015), Legacies of Cyberfeminism (2016).
