VIU Lectures: Being a Maritime Metropolis.

22.11.2021

The VIU Lecture Being a Maritime Metropolis. Knowledge, Imagination and the Common Perspective for Early Modern Floating Capitals takes place on November 24, 2021, at 5 pm (CET).

Guest speaker of the event is Alexei Kraikovski, National Research University Higher School of Economics, St. Petersburg, Russia and University of Padova, Italy.

The lecture represents the results of a research project based on the comparative consideration of Early Modern urban centers that had established a reputation as maritime metropolises, from Venice to St. Petersburg. Using the materials of the Grand Embassy, the famous European trip of the Russian Tsar Peter I and his entourage, we will discuss the importance of visual impressions in the understanding of the very phenomenon of the maritime metropolis or floating city. Furthermore, the story of the 18th century St. Petersburg, conceptualized as "Another Amsterdam" or "Venice of the North", gives a key to the story of success and failure of the construction of the Maritime Metropolis. How can this phenomenon be imagined and reproduced? Why is a precise copy not the way to replicate the success of the original? Kraikovski will use recent approaches, like the History of Thalassa, New Coastal History, Visual Translation, to invite the audience to embark on this intellectual adventure.

VIU Lectures is a series of talks on topical issues of interest to the VIU Community. They are open to the public and are currently being held online.

The lecture will be held in dual format. Registration is required to attend the event in person and also for the online event.