I speak. I tell stories and show pictures from strange places with names difficult to pronounce. I have been doing this at conferences, festivals, universities, bookshops, travel clubs and even in my mom’s kitchen. I mostly talk about culture, politics, travel, architecture, and odd encounters.

Here is a brief summary of my recent public orations. A few of them have surprisingly been not that boring as you might think.

Stalemate and Violence: Frozen Conflicts in the Former USSR, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

Travelling Through the Wild Caucasus, Schropp Library, Berlin, Germany

Eight Years as a Photojournalist in the Conflict Regions of the Caucasus, Department of History of the Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany

North Korea: a Journey Across the Hermit Kingdom, CIGV - Four Seasons Hotel, Florence, Italy

In the Lost Heart of Asia, Schropp Library, Berlin, Germany

Albania Mon Amour, Schropp Library, Berlin, Germany

Photojournalism and Documentary Photography: Beginner and Intermediate Course, Berlino Schule, Berlin, Germany

Caucasus: Where the Mountains Are, Discovery Days, Laax, Switzerland

North Korea: Hermit Moments, Berlin Travel Festival, Berlin, Germany

Chechnya and the North Caucasus, Berlin Travel Festival, Berlin, Germany

Rwanda: Dreams of Apes, Berlin Travel Festival, Berlin, Germany

Russia Unveiled, MUDEC, Milan, Italy

Along the Volga and Across Siberia, Italian Geographic Society, Rome, Italy

Russia Unknown, National Geographic Expeditions Italy, Online Event

Riders and Shamans, National Geographic Expeditions Italy, Online Event

Ethnic Heterogeneity within the Russian Federation, Russia in Translation, Online Event