Thursday, April 7, 2025  W15 Cafe at Bard College Berlin (Waldstrasse 15, 13156)

Sasha Skochilenko is a Russian artist, musician, poet, and former political prisoner.

She was arrested in April 2022 in Saint Petersburg for distributing anti-war messages. Amnesty International declared her a prisoner of conscience, the Memorial human rights organization recognized her as a political prisoner, and the BBC included her in its 100 Women of 2022 list. In November 2023, she was sentenced to seven years in prison under Russia’s so-called “fake news” law.

On August 1, 2024, Skochilenko was released in Ankara as part of a complex international prisoner exchange, having spent more than two years in prison. Currently lives in Germany. In 2024, she participated in exhibitions in Paris, Amsterdam, and London with her prison drawings.

Beyond her activism, she is also the author of Book About Depression (2014), which helped destigmatise mental health issues in Russia.

The case study, prepared by Bard College’s student Sofia Semenova, documents the harsh conditions of Skochilenko’s imprisonment and its effects on her physical and mental health.

Sasha will talk about her studies of anthropology at Smolny college of Liberal Arts and Sciences (St. Petersburg, Russia) and how this experience helped her form her strengthen her antiwar position reflected in her courtroom speech “Oh yes, life!” on the value of life and reconciliation amidst war and conflict and survive through her imprisonment.

The talk is moderated by Ilya Kalinin, Sasha’s former professor and supervisor at Smolny College, currently Smolny Beyond Borders fellow and Einstein fellow at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.

For more information: Please contact Smolny Beyond Borders at [email protected] .

The case study, prepared by Bard College’s student Sofia Semenova, documents the harsh conditions of Skochilenko’s imprisonment and its effects on her physical and mental health.