Re/positionierung

Critical Whiteness/Perspectives of Color

23 January–20 June 2009

Event Series
Publication

Location(s):
nGbK, Oranienstraße 25

Participants

Joshua Kwesi Aikins, Jamika Ajalon, Manuela Bojadzijev, CHINAZA, Jean-Ulrick Désert, Gabriele Dietze, Amy Evans, Jutta Franzen, Kien Nghi Ha, Farida Heuck, James T. Hong, Rajkamal Kahlon, Onur Suzan Kömürcü, Tobi Linnemann, Mitja-Sabine Lück, Paul Mecheril, Philip Metz, Lambert Mousseka/Stefanie Oberhoff, Yvette Mutumba, Toan Nguyen, Branwen Okpako, Remember Resistance (Sonja Hohenbild, Brigitta Kuster, Julien Enoka Ayemba), Renée Ridgway, Victoria B. Robinson, Juliane Strohschein, Carol Tulloch/Syd Shelton, Zara Zandieh

Project group

Dörte Fischer, Lisa Glauer, Pablo Hermann, Steffen Krüger, Zoltan Kunckel, Sandrine Micossé-Aikins, Branka Pavlovic

January - Startup: Positioning!
Positioning is unavoidable for a dialog on equal footing regarding hierarchical structures - the terms People of Color and White represent a possibility for positioning by labeling the respective positions in order to speak about and investigate disparate conflicts. Definitions and the history of these terms are highlighted and their meaning debated for a reflected dealing with the collective fight against racism.

February - Remembering/DEmembering
The representation of history, of memory, but also the oblivion, or as the case may be, active forgetting of historical occurrences can be a powerful instrument for the establishment and consolidation of dominant structures.

March - Subject!
Racist structures degrade People of Color to objects – the taking on of a subjectivity by rejecting an ascribed passive position describes a form of resistance and a simultaneous process of empowerment. The African American philosopher W.E. Dubois coined the term of double consciousness in order to speak about a form of self-perception which juggles an individual’s point of view in relation to the perspective of a dominant exterior world.

April - Perspectives
A circumstance has as many interpretive possibilities as it has observers. If we want to expand our perspective we must be inclined to challenge our ingrained points of view.

May - Voices
To make one‘s voice heard is an important step towards (re)claiming a subjective position.

June - RE/POSITIONING
A re/positioning follows the discussion and acknowledgment of one‘s own position whereby points of view are taken up consciously that mark an active opposition to racism instead of implicitly strengthening it.

Events:

January - Startup: Positioning!
Friday, January 23
17:00h AG re/positionierung Introduction (G)
18:00h Kien Nghi Ha People of Color: Empowerment and Self-Reflexive Identity Politics (Lecture/G)
20:00h Jutta Franzen Doing Whiteness (Lecture/G)
Saturday, January 24
18:00h Farida Heuck Global Immigration Service (Lecture/G)
10:00h – 17:00h Tobi Linnemann, Mitja-Sabine Lück Workshop for Dealing with Whiteness (Workshop is intended for White-positioned people/registration is required/G)

February - Remembering/DEmembering
Friday, February 20
18:00h Joshua Kwesi Aikins The Everyday Presence of German Colonial History in Berlin’s Cityscape (Lecture/G)
20:00h Philip Metz The Black in the Eye of the Other (Lecture/G)
Saturday, February 21
17:00h Yvette Mutumba Afro-Spheres in the German Artscene (Lecture/E)
19:00h Remember Resistance (Sonja Hohenbild, Brigitta Kuster, Julien Enoka Ayemba) Colonial Ghosts / Kinshasa-Brussels (Film-, Photo-, Sound- and Live-Commentary/G)

March - Subject!
Friday, March 20
18:00h Rajkamal Kahlon Double Consciousness: Painting and Performing the Racial Grotesque (Lecture/Performance/E)
20:00h Onur Suzan Kömürcü Cultural Diversity and the Creative City: Living Conditions of Artists of Color in Berlin’s Cultural Industry (Lecture/G)
Saturday, March 21
17:00h Branwen Okpako Maggie Burns (Lecture/Performance/E)
19:00h Juliane Strohschein Positioning and Dealing with Whiteness (Lecture/D)

April - Perspectives
Friday, April 24
18:00h James T. Hong Taipei 101. A view of Whiteness from outside a prodominantly White context (Movie/E)
20:00h Zara Zandieh Close-Distance. Narration of three women who migrated to Berlin from Iran between 1960 and 1980 (Movie/E)
Saturday, April 25
17:00h Manuela Bojadzijev Ultra-red: We Come From Your Future (Lecture/G)
19:00h Toan Nguyen Move On Up- Socio-Political Empowerment Perspectives in Motion (Lecture/G)

May - Voices
Friday, May 22
10:00 - 17:00h Amy Evans The Response/Responsibility of Performance Writers of Color (Workshop is indended for People of Color/registration is required/E)
10:00 - 17:00h CHINAZA The Exceptional Me: Workshop to discover a radical sound - for People of Color (Workshop is intended for professional musicians of Color/E/G)
18:00h Paul Mecheril The Double Lack that Brings Forth Marginalised Subjectivities which They Complete (Lecture/G)
Saturday, May 23
10:00h – 14:00h Amy Evans The Response/Responsibility of Performance Writers of Color (Workshop, continued/E)
10:00 - 14:00h CHINAZA The Exceptional Me: Workshop to discover a radical sound for People of Color (Workshop, continued)
15:00h Victoria A. Roberts Schwarze Autorin im Weißen Mainstream (Lecture/G)
18:00h Renée Ridgway Onkel Barack‘s Hütte (Lecture/E)
19:00h Jean-Ulrick Désert White-Lessons/The Lagom Project and the Works of Jean-Ulrick Désert (Lecture/E)

June - RE/POSITIONING
Friday, June 19
18:00h Carol Tulloch/Syd Shelton Rock against Racism 1976 – 1981 (Lecture/E)
20:00h Gabriele Dietze Critical Whiteness Theory and Critical Occidentalism. Two Figures of Hegemonial Self-Reflection (Lecture/G)
Saturday, June 20
16:00h Jamika Ajalon Locations of the Mothership: The Black Female Subject as a Site of Resistance (Anti-Lecture/E)
18:00h AG re/positionierung Summary (G)
20:00h Lambert Mousseka/Stefanie Oberhoff International Puppet Theater (Performance/G/F)