Zine-Making Workshops at Spinnboden Lesbenarchiv and Schwules Museum.
In two workshops we will explore memory practices and the representation of racialised, diasporic and (post)migrant lives in the archive. Considering diasporic ruptures in the past and present, we look at how archival categories bring together widely divergent and intergenerational life trajectories. What queer connections do we find in the varied and fragmented traces of the past? The workshops are geared towards the creation of a zine on “alternative forms of affiliation and collectivity” (Gayatri Gopinath). Writers will be paid for their submissions, and it is possible to participate in the workshops without submitting to the zine.
Workshop 1:
At the Schwules Museum (SMU) on August 3, we will explore Black, Indigenous, and people of color (mis)representations in a queer archive. Along with a tour of the SMU’s archive, selected materials will show how Black and brown bodies are represented over time and space through the white gaze. Following the tour, participants engage queer archival theories as well as self-representative archival materials: The South Asian diasporic journal Trikone, the Indonesian zine Gaya Nusantara and the German-Turkish zine Lubunya among others show how queer BIPoC in the 1990s and early 2000s made records of themselves, their realities and visions of the future. Then we will take time to write and get creative. Published contributions will be remunerated. It is possible to take part in the workshop without submitting anything to the zine. Facilitated by Jessica Walter and Wassan Ali.
Date: Saturday, August 3, 12:00-17:30
Location: Seminar room, Schwules Museum, Lützowstraße 73 10785 Berlin
There is a step-free entrance via the courtyard; the museum has two wheelchair-accessible toilets with fold-up grab rails. Further information on barriers can be found here.
The workshop is open to queer BIPoC of all (and no) genders and generations. It will be held partly in English and partly in German. To register, please send an email with your positioning and a few lines about your motivation to fuehrungen@schwulesmuseum.de. We encourage participation in both workshops, but it is possible to participate in only one.
Workshop 2:
At the Spinnboden Lesbenarchiv on August 17, we will discuss the work of two filmmakers, starting with Gita Saxena who in New View, New Eyes: A Video Poem (1993) documents her travels to India, using wordplay and cinematic imagery to reflect on her ‘Western’ way of seeing and living and her search for identity as a person of German, Indian, and Canadian descent. We will also view parts of the estate of the late German filmmaker Babette Herchenröder, which includes several tapes of her travels to Palestine in the 1990s and early 2000s, video journals that document her interactions with people she met as a volunteer on farms. Following the screenings, we will engage with archive materials and selected texts that address the challenge of connecting the different realities, time periods, and perspectives found in ‘diasporic’ historical records. The workshop is the basis for writing texts for a zine, and a writing session will take place at the end of the day. Published contributions will be remunerated. It is possible to take part in the workshop without submitting anything to the zine. Facilitated by Wassan Ali, Farzada Farkhooi, and Jessica Walter.
Date: August 17, 12:00-17:30
Location: Spinnboden Lesbenarchiv, Anklamer Straße 38, 10115 Berlin
Wheelchair accessible via elevator and ramp; unfortunately no barrier-free restrooms.
The workshop is open to queer BIPoC and Jewish participants of all (and no) genders and generations. It will be held partly in English, partly in German. To register, please send a few lines about your interest in archiving and writing to veranstaltungen@spinnboden.de. Participation in both workshops is encouraged but not a requirement.
Final Public Event:
In the public event “Queering Past and Present: (Un)belonging in the Queer Archive” at the ZLB-Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek, participants of the workshop Writing the Archive will read excerpts from their texts on queer forms of collectivity. In the subsequent discussion, Jin Haritaworn, author of an ethnography on queer of color kitchen tables in Berlin in the 2000s and early 2010s, Jessica Walter (SMU), and Wassan Ali (Spinnboden Lesbenarchiv) will discuss queer BIPoC archives and counter-archives. More information will follow.
Date: September 26, 17:30-20:00
Location: Pop-Up Hall of the Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek, Blücherplatz 1, 10961 Berlin
The event is open to all.
The workshops and the closing event are part of the project “Writing the Archive: Queer BIPoC Generations and Belongings.” We would be delighted if participants could come to both workshops and the event and present their texts there.
The project is funded by the PRIDE SOMMER 2024 micro-project fund of the Senate Department for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination.
(Design: Mary Vu)
