Professor wants to color the UvA blue-yellow with poster campaign for Ukraine
UvA professor Barbara Hogenboom (Latin American studies) starts a poster campaign to color the UvA blue-yellow - the colors of the Ukrainian flag. It is a protest action against Putin's attack on Ukraine and for peace, freedom and democracy. 'This is not only about the Ukrainians, but also about Europe.'
Angry and concerned, Professor of Latin American Studies Barbara Hogenboom was about Russia's attack on Ukraine. After yesterday's news, the image of a hundred Ukrainians on the Dam Square and of a small protest here and there especially stayed with her. She asked herself: can't we do more?
Friday morning she started a poster campaign - inspired by light actions in cities like The Hague, Brussels and Berlin - to color the entire UvA blue-yellow. The blue-yellow poster reads: 'We condemn Putin's attack on our neighbouring country! We stand united for peace, freedom and democracy'. That document will be emailed to fellow researchers so that everyone can print the poster themselves. The goal is that on Monday not only the UvA is blue-yellow, but also many other buildings and houses in Amsterdam - and preferably in the whole of the Netherlands and Europe. Therefore, English, German and Spanish versions are also in the making.
With the poster campaign, Hogenboom wants to show the university that what Putin is doing is unacceptable. Hogenboom: 'This is not just about the Ukrainians, but also about peace and democracy in Europe and the world. It is an attack on our system where you respect borders and democracy.'
The poster campaign will not deter Putin from continuing the war, warned Hogenboom's colleagues. Yet Hogenboom, with a background in research on social movements, thinks that it could have an effect: 'The moment that not only Rutte or the Minister of Foreign Affairs say: we don't want this, but it also gets onto the social agenda, there will be more pressure. It can also be a signal to Russia that not only politicians, but also citizens are speaking out.'
Fellow researchers at European Studies, the Amsterdam School for Regional, Transnational and European Studies and the Amsterdam Centre for European Studies have already expressed their support. Hogenboom also wants to ask the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and the UvA Board for their support. Hogenboom: 'With the Board behind us, we can spread this message much faster and wider.'
