18 November 2025
Sixth Panel Discussion “Are We Getting Rid of Perceptions? Case of Crimea and Other Former ‘Imperial Treasures’” within the Third International Conference “Crimea Globalʼʼ
As part of the Third International Conference “Crimea Global. Understanding Ukraine through the South,” the sixth panel discussion, titled “ Are We Getting Rid of Perceptions? Case of Crimea and Other Former ‘Imperial Treasures”, took place. The session focused on critically re-examining imperial narratives.
The panel featured feminist author and human rights consultant, Aúna member Ana Vásquez Colmenares; Senior Researcher at the Tibet Action Institute and Lecturer at Columbia University Dr. Tenzin (Tendor) Dorjee; Executive Director of the RUTA Association Dr Martin-Oleksandr Kyslyi; Associate Professor and Researcher at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of the Witwatersrand, Dr. Hlon in ifa Mokoena; and human rights defender and lawyer Leila Seiitbek.
The discussion was moderated by the Head of the Asia, Africa, and Latin America Department at the Ukrainian Institute, Anabell Sotelo Ramires.
Participants examined the persistent media portrayal of Crimea, which in many countries continues to rely on orientalist clichés — as a romanticized “pearl” of the Russian Empire associated with imperial summer residences and imagery drawn from Russian literature.
Dr Martin-Oleksandr Kyslyi emphasized that, in the case of Crimea’s history, colonial practices must be dismantled and indigenous traditions restored. He added that while the colonizer is always responsible for oppression, a key question arises regarding who is now responsible for decolonization and for addressing its consequences. He noted that Ukrainian scholars play an essential role in shaping an accurate historical narrative and that citizens themselves influence the language they choose to speak and the perspectives they uphold.
“Restoring the agency of those who were colonized, and paying attention to the voices and sources of their history and heritage, is a direct path toward decolonization.”
Leila Seiitbek observed that, for decades, Central Asia had been subjected to the colonial myth that Russians supposedly brought factories, schools, and libraries, whereas in reality Russian rule destroyed the Kyrgyz language and identity. She explained that, as a Kyrgyz woman, she had grown up speaking Russian and began learning her native language only after the collapse of the USSR, because repeated alphabet changes and bans on the Kyrgyz language and traditions in public spaces had severed the population from its historical memory.
ʼʼThis version of history does not mention that, on the territories Russia claimed as its own, other civilizations and states once existed. They were destroyed, and their resources were divided and consumed by the Russian Empire and later the USSR.ʼʼ
Hlonipha Mokoena highlighted that Africa is often overlooked in discussions about decolonization. She remarked that the false belief persists that the best ideas and cultural products primarily originate from the West, underscoring the need to rethink the global order. She emphasized that art is inseparable from political processes and serves as a crucial tool for restoring agency and representation.
Dr Tenzin (Tendor) Dorjee pointed out that discussions about colonial perception require distinguishing between imperialism and nationalism, as well as depoliticizing approaches to decolonization. He added that once nations are resolute in their self-determination, the question of decolonization becomes irrelevant, as there will be no space left for cultural oppression. He also noted that the languages of colonizers displace minority languages from everyday use, limiting access to historical memory, cultural continuity, and political self-expression.
In conclusion, Ana Vásquez Colmenares spoke about the ongoing processes of linguicide and ethnocide in the Americas. She explained that although Mexico has 68 official languages, Spanish has become an instrument of suppressing their development and a tool of structural violence, which has led to the disappearance of 48 Indigenous languages to date. She further observed that in Ukraine she had witnessed how empire also targets places of beauty — heritage sites in Crimea and across the country — and stressed the importance of protecting this beauty from destruction, silencing, renaming, and appropriation by colonizers and empires.
