Dear Sir or Madam,
We cordially invite you to submit proposals for articles for a collective publication: Reversing Orientalist Perspectives: Counter-visuality and Representations in the Work of Female Artists from Asia and Africa, to be released by one of the renowned academic journals or publishing houses.

Please send submissions (Title: Keywords: Abstract: Bio): kontrwizualnosc@gmail.com by December 1, 2025
Kind regards,

Marta Widy-Behiesse, Jan Rogala

About a collective publication:

The starting point for the planned collective publication is a reflection on the role of images and visuality in shaping discourses of identity, difference, and power in contemporary visual culture (Kallio-Tavin, Tavin 2018). The focus is on the representation of women from Asia and Africa, which has been perpetuated in Western visual tradition through the prism of Orientalism for centuries. Reductive and exoticizing representations – associated, among other things, with the figure of the harem – not only served to justify narratives of the alleged oppression and backwardness of “Oriental” societies, but also reinforced hierarchical arrangements between the “West” and the “Orient.” The state of research on this issue points to intense criticism of Orientalist clichés, initiated by Edward Said’s analyses and developed by feminist and postcolonial researchers (including Lila Abu-Lughod, Meyda Yeğenoğlu, and Reina Lewis). An important place in the discourse is occupied by works on the visual representation of women in art, film, and the media, emphasizing their instrumentalization as figures serving to construct Western identity. At the same time, increasing attention is being paid to the strategies of female artists from Asia and Africa who, through their artistic practices, critique imposed images, reconstruct historical and cultural narratives, and develop alternative languages of visuality. The proposed publication, “Reversing Orientalizing Gaze: Counter-visuality and Representations in the Work of Female Artists from Asia and Africa,” aims to bring together analyses devoted to this process. The idea is to show how artists from regions marked by colonial and orientalizing traditions of visualization attempt to rewrite their own histories, and how their works create a space of counter-visuality (Nicolas Mirzoeff) – a form of visual response that not only exposes the mechanisms of stereotyping, but also produces new models of representation. The monograph will facilitate an in-depth reflection on the significance of contemporary art by women from Asia and Africa as a field of struggle for visibility, emancipation, and the redefinition of cultural roles. The rationale for choosing this topic is twofold its relevance in the context of global debates on equality, identity, and the decolonization of knowledge, as well as the need to create a research platform for the analysis of artistic phenomena that have been marginalized in Western academic discourse.

Dear Colleagues,

You are warmly invited to take part in the conference. Please find the registration form below.

Formularz.docx (Registration Form)
Zaproszenie.pdf (Invitation)

On 5 September, we hosted a delegation from Musashi University (Tokyo): Mr Toshiaki Horikoshi, Director of the Office of International Relations, and Prof. Jason Hollowell, Director of the Global Education Center. The purpose of the visit was to finalise a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in academic and student exchange. Representing the University of Warsaw on behalf of the Rector were Vice-Rectors Prof. Sambor Grucza and Prof. Maciej Raś, as well as the Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Dr hab. Agata Bareja-Starzyńska, University Professor, and Dr hab. Józef Pawłowski, Vice-Dean for Finance of the Faculty of Oriental Studies.

Representatives of Musashi University (MU) actively took part in scientific events organised by the University of Warsaw in Japan in April and July this year under the NAWA programme “Kierunek EXPO 2025.” In addition, on 30 June in Tokyo a meeting was held between Dr Katarzyna Starecka, representing the Coordination Team of the “UW at EXPO 2025” project on behalf of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, and MU President Prof. Noriyuki Takahashi, MU Vice President Prof. Takuya Niiro, as well as Prof. Yasuo Ikeda, Director of Musashi Academy. Another meeting between the MU leadership and Dr hab. Iwona Kordzińska-Nawrocka, University Professor and Head of the Department of Japanese Studies at the UW Faculty of Oriental Studies, is scheduled for 17 September in Tokyo.

The origins of Musashi Academy (Musashi Gakuen)—which comprises Musashi University as well as Musashi Senior High School and Junior High School—date back to 1922. Since its founding, it has been guided by the idea of educating individuals open to the world, capable of realising “the national ideal of bridging Eastern and Western cultures.”

The following statement was provided by Prof. Jason Hollowell:

On behalf of Musashi University, I am honored to visit the University of Warsaw to sign our new collaboration agreement. Since the founding of Musashi Gakuen over 100 years ago, we have pursued internationalization as a central mission. In this spirit, we feel both honored and delighted to conclude an agreement with the University of Warsaw, a world-class institution whose distinguished Oriental Studies program has advanced knowledge for more than a century.

Musashi University has long emphasized the importance of understanding the world as a pillar of our philosophy. This tradition continues today through our renewed focus on the liberal arts and sciences, which provide our students with the tools to think critically, communicate across cultures, and engage with global challenges. Through the promotion of student exchange, faculty collaboration, and joint initiatives, we aim to create meaningful opportunities for our communities to learn from one another. In doing so, we hope to contribute to global understanding and foster the peaceful exchange of ideas across cultures and borders.

We look forward to building a strong and lasting relationship with the University of Warsaw, grounded in shared values of academic excellence, openness, and mutual respect.

—Jason Hollowell
Professor, PhD
Director, Global Education Center
Musashi University

Prof. Hanna Rubinkowska-Anioł and Dr Nagmeldin Karamalla-Gaiballa, are developing cooperation with African Studies at Cairo University. As part of building a joint project, they visited institutions affiliated with Cairo University: the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a research centre in Aswan, and Damanhour University.

On 29 May 2025, an international scientific seminar and exhibition entitled ‘Sadyk Bej (1865-1944): In the Service of Two Nations’ was held at the headquarters of the Archive of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) and the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (PAU) in Cracow. In the Service of Two Nations”. This event was organised under the honorary patronage of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Poland and was initiated and co-organised by the Centre for Azerbaijani Studies at the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Warsaw University, in cooperation with the Institute of Oriental Studies at Jagiellonian University and the Cracow branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

The President of the Astana-based International Turkic Academy spoke at the inauguration and accepted the invitation as guest of honour. In his opening speech, he emphasised the importance of Professor Agabeyzade for Oriental studies. He also presented the latest edition of one of Agabeyzade’s works, which has been reissued as part of the Academy’s activities.

Sadyk Bey Agabeyzade was an Azerbaijani orientalist, activist, and former politician of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic who was forced into exile after the Bolshevik coup. He made a significant contribution to the development of Polish Oriental Studies by educating successive generations of Polish Orientalists. His works include the Handbook of the Turkic Language with a Collection of Turkic Proverbs (1904), the Grammar of the Arabic Language (1934), and unpublished textbooks on Turkish and Persian. This exhibition showcases his teaching legacy and his extensive correspondence with renowned Polish orientalists such as Władysław Kotwicz, Marian Lewicki, Ananiasz, Włodzimierz Zajączkowski and Haji Seraya Shapshal, as well as representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora.

On May 27, 2025, at the Department of Turkic Studies and Inner Asian Peoples of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the University of Warsaw, a meeting was held with members of the Polish-Azerbaijani Commission for Research on the Legacy of Professor Muhammad Sadyk Bej Agabeyzade, a Polish orientalist of Azerbaijani descent, affiliated with the Jan Kazimierz University in Lviv, whose scientific achievements are an important part of the common history of Poland and Azerbaijan.

The meeting, which had a semi-official character, was attended by the Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Prof. Agata Bareja-Starzyńska, the head of the Department, Dr. Jan Rogala, and a team of researchers of the Department of Turkology and Peoples of Central Asia. Prof. Agata Bareja-Starzyńska presented to the Azerbaijani Orientalists the most important research projects carried out at the Department, and also presented the Department’s valuable scientific publications and publications.

The meeting was an important step towards deepening scientific cooperation between Polish and Azerbaijani institutions in the field of historical and cultural heritage research.

The annual Africa Days at the UW took place from 27-29 May. During this time, lectures, workshops and a film screening were made available to the general public. Also on 27 May, the international academic conference “New trends in African Languages and Cultures the African Studies Colloquium” took place.

The guest lecture “Empathy and Indifference: A Contribution to the Domain of Modality” was given by Prof. Zygmunt Frajzyngier, an Africanist with roots in African Studies in Warsaw, currently a professor at the University of Colorado. Prof. Lionel Posthumus from the University of Johannesburg was also a guest speaker at the conference, along with other speakers from Germany, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

You are cordially invited to the Power, Space and Culture’II conference. Details of the event can be found in the appendices.

Program

The International Book Fair will be held in Warsaw from May 15-18 this year. This year’s Guest of Honor is the Republic of Korea. The Department of Korean Studies at the Faculty of Oriental Studies is involved in the implementation of many cultural events.

Our Koreanists, Dr. Choi Jeong In, Dr. Anna Diniejko-Wąs, Dr. Justyna Najbar-Miller and Prof. Ewa Rynarzewska will lead lectures and a panel discussion on Korean literature and its translation into Polish. Korean Studies students are actively participating in the coordination of this event. This is a unique opportunity to meet leading Korean Writers.

We cordially invite you to join us!

Program

The Centre for Comparative Studies in Eastern and Western Philosophy in collaboration with the Department of South Asia of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, is pleased to host Prof. Geoffrey Ashton of the University of San Francisco, Department of Philosophy.

We invite to the following lectures:

1) 20 May 2025, Department of South Asia, WO UW, 69 Hoza St., Room 345

Intellectual History or Philosophical Dialogue?

Abhinavagupta on the Nature of Prakṛti in Sāṃkhya and a Reply from Phenomenology of Biology

Abstract:

The 11^th century Kashmiri Śaiva philosopher, Abhinavagupta, is often considered a model historian of ideas. Some scholars even take him to anticipate the attitude of contemporary intellectual historicism: though situated within the Pratyabhijñā school of thought, he is nevertheless hailed as a cautious, perceptive, and sympathetic reader—even of his opponents. But we should not overlook the instances where Abhinavagupta misinterprets his rivals. And not just this, he appears to do this knowing that more nuanced articulations (of his opponent’s view) were available to him. For a case study, this talk explores Abhinavagupta’s criticism of the Sāṃkhya concept of prakṛti, and then stages a reply on behalf of Sāṃkhya through the lens of a phenomenology of biology. Through this dialogue, we not only resuscitate key dimensions of prakṛti that had been lost to history (namely, the history of philosophy in South Asia). We also find a mirror to ourselves as contemporary scholars of Indian thought. Abhinavagupta may not satisfy the same objective scientific criteria that guide contemporary intellectual historicism. And this offers clues to how we can re-think what it means to be a scholar of South Asian philosophies.

2) May 21, 2025, Department of Philosophy, Krakowskie Przedmieście 3, room 209

Signs of Intelligent Life in Indian Philosophy of Nature:

A Biosemiotics Interpretation of What the Consciousness (Puruṣa) Doctrine Adds to Sāṃkhya’s Concept of Nature

Abstract:

Sāṃkhya, quite possibly India’s oldest philosophy, may have originally been a philosophy of nature (prakṛti, lit., “procreativity”) that preceded the arrival of the Indo-Aryans around 2,000 BCE. As such, it may have been associated with pre-Vedic ideas, practices, and spiritual goals: for example, this indigenous Sāṃkhya may have been more concerned with a fertility goddess than pursuing liberating knowledge of a pure, nonintentional, conscious selfhood (puruṣa) that transcends time, space, and causal relations. Nevertheless, the puruṣa doctrine became central to Sāṃkhya texts and traditions. The most authoritative Sāṃkhya articulation is found in the 4^th century text, the Sāṃkhya Kārikā, which asserts a fundamental dualism between two principles: nature (prakṛti) and consciousness (puruṣa). The historical questions of when, how, and why the puruṣa doctrine became integral to Sāṃkhya are open to debate. I bring attention to them in order to frame a philosophical inquiry: what does a sophisticated theory of consciousness, such as we find in the Sāṃkhya Karika, contribute to a philosophy of nature? In exploring this question, I begin by foregrounding the lingering influence of Cartesianism in our readings of Sāṃkhya. Scholars have frequently imputed Cartesian-based views about nature (res extensa), consciousness (res cogitans), and the dual relation between the two in their interpretations of prakṛti, puruṣa, and their interrelation. In order to move beyond, this talk makes three basic moves: (1) it posits nature as living nature, (2) it distinguishes between sentience and consciousness, and (3) it explores the link between living nature and sentience from the perspective of biosemiotics. Biosemiotics rests on the premise that biological life and sign-activity are co-extensive. This might help to open new horizons of inquiry into Sāṃkhya—horizons obscured by Indologists’ Cartesian biases. Above all, a biosemiotics approach might offer clues to why Sāṃkhya philosophers understood the question of consciousness to be so integral to a philosophy of nature.