"Extractive Narratives: Art, Oil, and the Geopolitical Web of the Caspian Sea"

Please join us for a lecture by Dr. Katrin Nahidi (University of Graz / University of Minnesota).

About the lecture

As we hopefully navigate the transition to a carbon-free future, it is essential to confront the pervasive influence of petrocapitalism that has fundamentally shaped our contemporary globalized world under neoliberal ideologies. The significance of oil goes beyond that of a mere commodity; it represents a central element in the formal recognition of the Anthropocene, characterized by human impact on the planet. This presentation will explore the concept of "petromodernity," highlighting oil's dual role as both a transformative agent and a symbol of significant planetary change.

By examining the geopolitical context of the Caspian Sea region, this presentation will highlight the intricate relationships between art, oil, and environmental activism amidst the legacies of colonialism and capitalism. While the oil industry obscures its extractive practices, contemporary artists in the region challenge these narratives and offer critical commentary through their work. 

The presentation will address various visual and artistic productions that reflect the socio-ecological consequences of oil extraction, while tracing the origins and implications of Caspian oil for the European market. Through an open exploration of artistic contributions from the region, we aim to demonstrate the unique ways in which contemporary artists engage with issues of environmental degradation and the geopolitical complexities associated with the oil industry.

About the speaker

Katrin Nahidi is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Art History at the University of Minnesota this spring. As a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Art and Musicology at the University of Graz in Austria, she is currently working on her habilitation project with the working title "Visualizing Petroscapes: Art and Oil in the Caspian Sea Region," which analyzes the fundamental role of oil in shaping artistic modernity at the dawn of decarbonization.

Katrin Nahidi received her PhD from Free University Berlin in 2021 with a dissertation entitled "Modernism Revisited: Exhibitions, Cultural Politics, and Modernist Art Production in Iran." Her dissertation was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation as part of the Sinergia project "Other Modernities - Practices and Patrimony of Visual Expression Outside the West," at the University of Bern and the Free University Berlin (2013-2017).

In 2023, her monograph, "The Cultural Politics of Art in Iran: Modernism, Exhibitions, and Art Production," was published by Cambridge University Press.

Her research interests include global art, modern art historiography, non-Western modern and contemporary art production, art theory from the Global South, and postcolonial art history. She has taught at the University of Graz, the University of Osnabrück, and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Her articles on Iranian modernism have been published in academic journals, including kritische berichte, Stedelijk Studies, and Artl@s Bulletin.

With thanks to the Center for Austrian Studies for co-sponsoring the lecture.