Online Assembly
Processes of dehumanization are taking place in Europe while we are writing these lines. Rooted in Europe’s long history of colonial and imperial projects, such processes have become even more exposed during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, showing class violence and racial divisions across Europe. During this time we have been witnessing how the most vulnerable social groups become widely disposable, reminding us of the inhuman conditions that peoples—for example refugees, people of color, migrant workers or indigenous minorities—within or outside of Europe are subject to. The presence extreme right-wing politics in many European countries has induced some profound change in the conditions of creating and representing contemporary art. This has involved increasing social, political and economic pressures, silencing, appropriation or even dangerous recuperation. With this series of conversations that form the Online Assembly, we would like to ask the question, of how re-humanization can take place and how one might imagine it within the institutional art landscape in Europe? The online assembly brings together various artists, thinkers, partners and scientists to discuss the main themes of the exhibition, bringing into focus different aspects of the discourse on dehumanization. For example, thinking through issues of border control, structural racism, migration, colonial heritage and the neo-colonial present, alongside possible rehumanizing processes such as healing and care practices. Program schedule: SESSION I 11/3/2020, 3-5 pm (CET) Welcome note: Bettina Steinbrügge Introduction: Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez Key Note Lecture: Zairong Xiang (Duke Kunshan University) – Writing in the Stone, or How to Curate a Funeral SESSION II 11/10/2020, 5-8 pm (CET) Introduction: Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez Talk I: Lala Rašcic and Monira Al Qadiri in conversation with Jelena Petrovic (Academy of Fine Arts and Design, University of Vienna) Talk II: Doruntina Kastrati and Kengné Téguia in discussion with Nora Sternfeld (HfbK Hamburg) SESSION III 11/17/2020, 5-8 pm (CET) Introduction: Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez Talk III: Daniela Ortiz, Kaltrina Krasniqi and Ibro Hasanovic in discussion with Francisco Godoy Vega (Scientist, writer, curator and professor of art history and theory at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) Talk IV: Valentina Desideri, Denise Ferreira da Silva, Arely Amaut and Saddie Choua in discussion with Raquel Lima (Author, PhD Student in Post-Colonialisms and Global Citizenship) SESSION IV 11/24/2020, 5-8 pm (CET) Talk V: Jelena Jureša, Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez and Elena Agudio in conversation with Arlette-Louise Ndakoze (independent researcher and journalist and member of SAVVY Contemporary) Round table: Bruno Leitão (HANGAR, Lisbon, Portugal), Ares Shporta (Lumbardhi, Prizren, Kosovo), Luís Silva (Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lisbon, Portugal), Bettina Steinbrügge (Kunstverein in Hamburg, Germany), Pieternel Vermoortel (Netwerk, Aalst, Belgium), Emilie Villez (KADIST, Paris, France), moderated by Nina Möntmann (art historian and author)