The Experience of Forced Migration of Ukrainian Youth in Vernacular Photography

In my presentation, I will discuss my doctoral research on the sensory experiences of Ukrainian youth in the context of forced migration. The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine forms the starting point of the project, and my personal background as a Ukrainian in Poland before the war further shapes the research perspective.

My dissertation is a methodological case study that critically examines the use of experimental approaches and ethnographic tools in anthropology. I pay particular attention to sensory experiences, which in my work play a dual function: they are both a method and an object of anthropological analysis. I study how Ukrainian youth, who live in Poznań due to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, experience home, the city, and digital spaces through their senses.

This perspective enables me to evaluate the potential of experimental ethnography in practice and to reflect on how embodied and sensory approaches can broaden the ways anthropological knowledge is produced and shared.

This talk is hosted by the Centre for Sensory Studies at Concordia University as part of its ongoing "Talking Sense" lecture series.

About the speaker

Olena Martynchuk is a cultural anthropologist and curator. Her research is at the intersection of anthropology and contemporary art. She is interested in sensory ethnography, migration, art-based research, vernacular photography, documentary film, and urban anthropology. Martynchuk also explores how anthropological knowledge can reach beyond academic settings through formats such as exhibitions, zines, artist books, and performative actions.