Saint Petersburg: out of focus

Saint Petersburg is the very emblem of a city created ex nihilo. Designed in a remote, swampy area as the capital of the Russian Empire in the early 18th century, the city is a product of perspectives and plans, a built image. Nowhere else can we study the architectural representation of power over more than three centuries more clearly. But the city is not only a site where power resides in guise of political, military, bureaucratic and economic authority. It is also a testing ground for the critique of power, a site of anarchy, revolution and counter-culture. The rationality of control is constantly confronted with the irrational and the loss of control. The clearly designed perspective literally leads to a “vanishing” point – the fog that is common for the area. The real and the surreal blur into each other. What can we learn from the history and present time of Saint Petersburg? How can we adjust our perspective when we are encountering a set of phenomena that we cannot focus on clearly? How can we work with issues that we don’t see?

IMPORTANT !!!

FOR OUR SEMINARJOURNEY TO ST. PETERSBURG, WE NEED TO APPLY FOR A VISA !!

Therefore we need the following documents from each Student latest until we meet at our colloquium on THURSDAY 18.09.14 /15:30 H :

1) ORIGINAL PASSPORT
Valid until 6 months after return !
2 empty pages (for the Visa sticker)
passport has to be in good condition, no torn pages etc.

2) 1ADDITIONAL UP-TO-DATE PASSPHOTO, FORMAT: 3.5 X 4.5cm IN COLOR, LIGHT BACKGROUND, WITHOUT GLASSES, NO PRINTOUT
please mind that the format is a bit larger than a normal passphoto, therefore you will have to do a separate photo.

3)VISA FORM
Please fill in online the Visa form SHORTLY AFTER September 12 !!!! (otherwise your form disappears from their system) Visa-Antragsformular,
See link: https://visa.kdmid.ru/PetitionChoice.aspx , print it, glue the passphoto in the box, SIGN IT ! and bring it to the chair.
together with all the other documents mentioned

4) TRAVEL INSURANCE COPY

5) FOR NOT CH-CITIZENS: A COPY OF YOUR SWISS RESIDENCE PERMIT

6) FOR CITIZENS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: PLEASE CONTACT THE CHAIR PHILIP URSPRUNG


… as well as for all other questions.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR COOPERATION