Online workshop ALLIES IN STRUGGLE, PLEASURE AND ACROSS TIME (Feminism & Performativity)

From April 28th to May 1st, 2020, artist Bernadette Anzengruber will conduct the workshop ALLIES IN STRUGGLE, PLEASURE AND ACROSS TIME (Feminism & Performativity). The workshop is focused on a feminist perspective on performance in the fields of art, theory and self-empowering practices. Due to the current situation caused by Coronavirus, which has a massive impact on our bodies and the female body in particular, the artist will raise a number of questions on vulnerability, care and solidarity that will form an underlayer to be kept in mind during the workshop. 

The format will be discourse-lead, which means, participants together with the artist will do a close-reading of texts, look into historic and contemporary works of art (mainly performance/video/photography), indie-productions and mainstream media appropriations to discuss them in the group. 

Bernadette Anzengruber works in the fields of photography, performance, video, objects and text. Her artistic practice is located at the intersection of visual arts, design and philosophy with a focus on the corporality of language (materialised poetry – relationships of language and the body/language as a body), intimacy and the erotic of commodities, as well as the desires and power structures that come along with these topics.

Each of the four evenings will be dedicated to a different topic, starting out with performativity in the context of speech act theory and its translation into the art world. Questions of how societies are shaped by language, definitions and stereotypical ascriptions will be raised as well as feminist strategies to address and to change the status quo. While the first day defines the perspective, from which we are looking at things.

The other three evenings will be dedicated to a different area each night: on the second day we discuss heritage, counter-histories, female bonding and networks. 

• On the second day we dive into post-human Sci-Fi utopia/dystopia, fake realities, the self as a product on social media platforms and the fetishes that come along with these contemporary developments.

• On the third day we have a look at Post Porn Politics and knowledge-sharing/educational platforms as powerful tools to fight patriarchal oppression of female sexuality and the objectification of the female body. 

• On the last day we will discuss how we can integrate the workshop material into our current life situation and how it can increase our resilience, support us and keep us aware and critical towards problems we might be facing in the near future.

The texts discussed during the workshop will be provided for download or sent via e-mail after registration. Please register for the workshop here. The number of participants is limited.

It’s not an obligation to read them in advance, but they can give a better understanding and are a good resource for further reading.

Schedule: every day from Tuesday, April 28th to  Saturday, May 1st, time for each day: 6.00 - 9.00 PM;

Registration: upon this link;

Link to the workshop: will be sent upon registration as well as workshop materials;

Participation in the workshop is free.

The workshop will take place as part of the project EMERGENCE: Living Heritage / Reframing Memory, which is supported and partially funded by the Creative Europe programme.