tracing and tearing ways through and with the exhibition

within the process of curating and setting up the exhibition we, lann and ja’n, have been searching for visual and auditory hints to the traces and fractures of the dyke_transing of our perceptions; we have started to reflect upon our per­ceptions and our conventions in seeing and reading, listening and feeling photos and films, comics and podcasts, wordings and paintings. this text is one of our ways to interact.

our inter_actions are continuously resulting in new de_silencings and dis_ visualizations, we are re_locating the dyke_transing of selves and we are dyke_transing our re_locating inter_actions with each other, with others and with the artists. we are trying to reflect and discuss all this from a social positioning with white and ableistic privileges, and this perspective can be reflected upon but not overcome in our form of collaboration, in our ways to see and choose artistic productions. for us, dyke_transing productions and perceptions is not a general and neutral concept with regard to interdependent power relations; we thus do not understand the making of this exhibition as a form of dyke_transing artistic productions independently of racism and ableism but as being re_shaped and re_configured by and in and with these inter­dependent power relations by us in the creation of the exhibition.

we would like to share some of the questions we have been posing ourselves and each other in talking and seeing and feeling our conceptualizations of the exhibition here. we understand them as possible traces_fractures_points of departure and dis_arriving, ways of moving in and through and with the impressions gained in and with the exhibition:

 

different actor positionings in the exhibition and their reflection upon interdependent power relations

which role do we have as curators? how can we realize dyke_transing and contra_racist ideas in this exhibition? how do we decide upon which artists we choose, which and how many pictures/photos, videos we choose, how we put them into an interplay? is it possible for white curators to exhibit Black photographers’ works and to exhibit images of Black people we perceive as dyke_transed – and interpret these image productions as a ‘general’ utterance on the dyke_transing of viewing? is there a dyke_transing of gazes, images and visualizations independent of racist regimes of gazes, images and visualizations – and for whom and for which social localizations? to what extent do we re_produce racist ideas about dyke_transing or white norms in our perceptions and choices of dyke_transing images and visualizations? how can we realize the gaps and voids in our dyke_transing conventionalizations of visualizations? how to realize differences without essentializing them, without hierarchizing them, without ignoring them, without taking them over from privileged localizations?

what role do the artists have in relation to their image productions? and how do we as curators accept_negotiate_construct this in our exhibition, our choice of artists and artistic productions, in our interactions with the artists?

which role have/do we give the visitors_spectators_interactors in_of the exhibition? how can we as curators interact with them? is our way of putting the images and videos together a form of interaction, an offer_possibility to interact with us? how do we perceive_perform and how do we continue this interaction?

how is the gaze of spectators constructed in the images presented in the exhibition? how are spectators_visitors_interactors positioned in and by the images and the way they are presented in the exhibition?

in the case of the images, what role does the political positioning and the social localization of the photographer play for the way that the images are created, the way they are perceived and by whom, the way they are put into interaction in the exhibition?

the role of titles in perceiving photos: when is the title a frame of interpretation for the photo? to what extent (and for whom) do photos ‘function’ and ‘work’ if they are taken out of their (for example serial) context?

are visual impressions primary to verbal impressions and how can this relation be disturbed_reflected in the exhibition?

are titles for images fixed? can they change? could they be dynamically adapted to different situations and contexts?

how to communicate? when is communication ‘successful’, when is it communi­cative and what does it mean? when others are touched_in­spired_empowered_located when visiting the exhibition? when going home, meeting others? when you feel yourself in the presence of our communication, when you are in contact_touch_movement with yourself?

 

dyke_transing as shaping spaces

dyke_transing perceptions positionings locations wordings gazes also means shaping spaces

are there any visions beyond one’s own personal, critically located perceptions of dyke_transing?

is it possible to dyke_trans all images and wordings and_or is dyke_transing a homogeneous acting_perceiving across different and interdependent power relations like racism and ableism? why do we as curators think we find ourselves in, can read ourselves into, can feel an interaction with some images and not with others? to what extent are our perceptions constituted by an un_intelligibility of dyke_transing perceiving of realities_spaces_moments_ thoughts_feelings_impressions? to what extent are our perceptions constituted by sexist regimes, to what extent by the interdependency of racist_ableist_sexist normalizations? and to what extent are they dependent on our own social interdependent positionings within these power relations? are there any collective visions of dyke_transing living – and for whom are they collective and for whom are they not? to what extent are utopias already shaped and constituted by interdependent power relations and thus re_producing them in a profound and subtle way? can utopias go beyond interdependent power relations? which positionings are excluded in and by utopias? are utopias in the artistic productions, in their interaction with the visitors of the exhibition, in void spaces in between different positionings of agency? are utopias to be seen and heard? how much empty space and quiet_silence_quietness is needed for utopias?

 

dyke_transing politicizing visualizations

how can people dyke_trans their perceptions in different situations and contexts? what role does their political dyke_trans-dis_locating and their critical dyke_trans-dis_reflecting play for their listenings and gazes, for their de_ silencings and dis_visualizings? to what extent can we as curators of this exhi­bition dyke_trans our perceptions with regard to racism, constituted in and by our racist privileges? what role does the fact that we have ableist privileges play for our ideas and approaches to dyke_transing visions?

when to dyke_trans means a new political and critical conceptualization, means a new form of actions creating locations for individual selves – when dyke_trans has not been explicit or nameable before, how can we find traces of dyke _transing in others’ images and words? is dyke_transing perceptions of whatever or_and is it in inter_action with others’ wordings and visualizations? how do we and each of us and everybody else know? and is knowing feeling? and what do we and each of us and everybody else feel when looking at images, listening to words? (can we dyke_trans images depicting cisgendered heterogendered people? who is deciding and whose gaze is authorized in which way and for whom and how?)

 

de_individualizing dyke_transing: perceptions

dyke_transing perceptions – does it mean visualizing people, images of individuals? in terms of the exhibition, to what extent have we, ja’n and lann, focused on visualizations and thereby made visualizations central? does dyke_transing visual perceptions mean visualizing actions_communities_ collective_political activities_actions? could it mean visualizing movements, dynamics, unfinished open questions and inter_actions, and how is this being visualized? to what extent have we succeeded in finding visions and visualizations? what kind of visualizations have we found – have we seen – and what have we probably dis_seen due to our way of actively looking and choosing images for the exhibition? why do we at least partly re_locate dyke_transselves in visualizing individuals? to what extent are ideas and concepts about visualizations constructed by power relations which are themselves also re_affirmed by the way we conceptualize visualizations in the exhibition? why do we feel we can connect to photographs when depicting the upper part of persons – their heads and especially their faces? and why are we not as moved by and present in and identified by pictures of feet, legs, bellies, backs (and why do we maybe_sometimes want persons on pictures showing their backs to the camera, to turn around? why do we think that showing the back is a perspective change? what ‘reveals’ the front side of a person, what is hidden on_behind_in the back? what constitutes a subject in our visual perception, what irritates us, challenges not only our views but also the way we conceptualize views and gazes as such?

 

de_individualizing dyke_transing: communities

how is dyke_transing to be worded in actions and to be visualized in communities_collectivities? how is dyke_transing to be realized in listening and seeing? is there an individual way to dyke_trans visualizations and wordings which feels collective, which feels like community? how are collective actions dyke_transed and how can we, offering an inter_action with this exhibition, try to disturb_challenge_relocate de_silencings of collective dyke_transing? what does a collective action of dyke_transing mean? and to what extent is the idea of a collective dyke_transing an individual perception_action, locating the self in some fictive_utopian_realistic_felt_thought_experienced collective idea? how can community be individually enacted_understood_experienced _perceived without putting norms on others’ perceptions and feelings? how can differences, fractures, breaks, ambivalences and paradoxes be constitutive parts of a sense of community and not be its dangers_oppositions _counterimages? how can definitions be opened up, how can openings, de_limiting of definitions and acknowledging of differences be defined_ perceived_realized_understood as constitutive for dyke_transing community? why was it so difficult to find pictures where more than one person or couples are depicted? why does it seem so much closer to our perception and our choices of images as curators to have one person depicted? why didn’t we find many artist-combos or why are artistic productions often individualized although many people maybe have been involved in different ways in the making of a photo_film_comic_painting? to what extent are perceptions and ways to present oneself as an artist made up and shaped by hegemonic forms of individualizing authorship and ownership and individualizing concepts about inventions and ideas? how does this shape perceptions of collaborative processes and how is this re_produced in and through the exhibition? what could it mean to conceptualize oneself as community-based and to conceptualize creative processes as ongoing processual social interactions? what could it mean to understand knowledge productions as collective processes and not as individual ownership and what consequences would this have on forms of collaboration, on conceptualizing community, on concepts of security, financing and visibility? how can a reflection upon and acknowledg­ment of collaborative working processes be trans_formed and realized in social contexts that are very much focused on the idea of individual properties?

differentiating dyke_transing: interdependent power relations

how do we perceive interdependent power relations realized in dyke_transing visualizations and wordings? to what extent and when is dyke_transing images, pictures and words sensitive to racism? how do we, ja’n and lann, take responsibility for ways of presenting and offering inter_actions on interdependent power relations and structural discriminations in dyke_transing perceptions in and by the exhibition? how have we reflected our own contra_racist positionings with regard to the exhibition and what does it mean concretely for the curation of the exhibition in respect to all of its different decisions? it is not possible to dyke_trans perceptions only from white perspectives. but can we as white people show pictures from Black photographers and photos of Black people and to what extent do we re_produce our racist perspectives in doing so? how can we reflect upon and disturb our own prototypical ideas of contra_racist dyke_transing images of others in the exhibition? for whom do we make the exhibition and to what extent do we generalize our own views?

 

differentiating dyke_transing: contra_racist actions

how can we continuously reflect upon our own choices in and for the exhibition as a form of interaction and as a form of knowledge production in different ways? how can we realize a contra_racist self-conceptualization in the making of such an exhibition? there are no ‘good’ ways of showing and representing and applying images as part of the exhibition, no perfect forms of viewing and listening in the sense of being non-discriminatory. the exhibition is for us as curators and activists a step in an ongoing process of reflecting upon and enacting anti- and contra_discriminatory practices, in dyke_transing presence, in dyke_transing perceptions. these processes are at the same time also constituted by and themselves constituting structural discriminations – in the way that we have chosen our form of collaboration as a contra_racist contra_ableist collaboration, how we have chosen artists and their productions, in the way that we formulate our questions and needs and ideas for the exhibition, how we interact with the artists and different communities in and about the exhibition. the exhibition is a step in an ongoing process of actions and reflections on many different levels, including forms and needs and aspects

of collaborations, choice of artists, artistic productions, artistic forms, ways of presentation and interaction, forms of dissemination_interaction and visualizations.

 

differentiating dyke_transing: normalizing age in dyke_transing perceptions

one further dimension of reflecting our own normalizations of dyke_transing the perception of others has been to realize our own age norms when feeling touched by photos. are there any photos of older persons which we dyke_trans in our perception and to what extent are the images which we see_experience as touching_special_close to us depicting people being 40 years or younger? are age norms sexist_racist_ableist in dyke_transing positioning in visualizations and how could we dyke_trans age-norms in reflected disturbing and interdependent ways?

 

embodying dyke_transing – re_constructing body perceptions

re_constructing bodies in dyke_transing visualizations and locations

how are (perceptions of) bodies constructed in dyke_transing one’s own perceptions and visions? to what extent is it possible for individuals to dyke_trans their perceptions of individuals? is dyke_transing of individuals connected to the_ir faces, th_eir clothing or viewing naked people? (and what particular parts does the spectator’s gaze focus upon: what is to be revealed? – and what parts are irrelevant for dyke_transing individuals’ gazes?) what constitutes bodies in perceptions and to what extent are bodies important if dyke_transing is a political action? is seeing and perceiving of bodies generally possible as an act of dyke_transing or only in special situations and with special people? (and what has to be special then?) to what extent is it a re_production of hegemonic norms of what individuals are, what identity is, a part of a bodily inscribed identity politics which is possibly in opposition to dyke_transing as a political action, as community building, as a momentary always unfinishable social action?

what role do hairstyles play and the reading of hair-performances in the dyke_ transing of perceptions and productions of images: to what extent is hair on_in_with bodies a marker for different critical positionings, and to what

extent is the reading of hair in_on_with bodies a political issue for dyke_ transing perceptions? and for whom? which kinds of hair visualizations are normalized in which contexts, on which body parts and for what and to what extent are these mechanisms and hegemonic normalizations also dependent upon racist perceptions and visually constructed differentiations? how do people with different social positionings read hair differently? when and how and for whom is hair politics a political issue, who regards hair solely as an aesthetic or de_politicized feature and what does this narrate_show_produce about privileges and normalizations?

is the visualization of skin more authentic, closer to ‘the body’ than clothing? are clothes protections_performances_skins? what is under and beyond clothes and skin, what images and ideas about ‘reality’, selves, identities are re_invoked by tensions between skin and clothes in dyke_transing images? do clothes leave marks on and in bodies, where is the line between bodies and clothes? when and for whom is dyke_transing exposed in gazes on bodies? is a face ‘normally’ naked (and not perceived as naked) and conventionally exposed to gazes reading identities into them? is the head part of body-perceptions and why are photos of people often centered around faces? is a face necessary to perceive a person visually and what effect does it have on spectators to focus visually on other parts of a bodily construction of persons? to what extent are constructions about bodies, nakedness, personality in faces and bodies shaped by colonial racism, by racist normalizations of gazes and image productions and how can this be challenged?

 

wordings as part of bodies

how do we, ja’n and lann, dyke_trans our wordings and simultaneously stay open for the impossibilities of de_silencings? how can we differentiate our perceptions between silencing and re_location shaped by silences? how can we stand the de_locations of wordings formed by discriminating linguistic practices?

to what extent is orality perceived as bodily expression, written language as bodiless? to what extent is voice part of body constructions and words, and voiced nonwords are bodyless? are words voiced and is voice worded? what

kind of norms on communication are re_produced by way of these differentia­tions? and how is this negotiated in different forms of de_wordings, silences and listening in and about and beyond the exhibition?

 

unfinishable wordings of endings for_in the booklet

tracing and tearing ways through and with the exhibition is an ongoing process for us, is a start, a rest, a break, a fracture, a line, a circle, an unfinished sen­tence, an open interaction.

the questions we have formulated here are one of our ways of interacting with each other and with people visiting the exhibition – as the booklet is part of the exhibition and another form of contextualizing artistic productions and our ways of reflection and working.

the questions we have formulated here open up spaces for us, make connections possible, wordings on the limit of unwordable impressions_ situations_positionings and show our way of communicating with each other in the context of the exhibition.

dyke_transing our processes of working and living has resulted in the exhibition and is an ongoing process of dyke_transing our visions

 

artists’ (self) presentations

we, ja’n and lann, decided to ask the artists to come up themselves with some kind of self-presentation that they would like to see_read_listen to in the context of a booklet for this exhibition. we also used info from the artists’ homepages for some of the presentations. for claude cahun, who is no longer alive, we had to find another solution.

 

anja weber

anja weber is a photographer and video-artist. anja produces her works in series and in un_disciplinary and collaborative ways. she develops her narrative-portraying photographic works in collaboration with the protagonists. questions on re_presentations_identities_localizations and space as well as their interconnections and interdependencies are important aspects of anja weber’s artistic production. reflecting upon both forms of performance and assertions of realism in photographic depictions is another aspect of anja’s work.

anja’s pieces always reflect the point in time when they are produced. the series california beautiful, started in 2007, investigates different concepts, forms of expression and appropriations of masculinities – starting from the idea that the categorization “man” is a socio-culturally framed norm.

in 2002, anja created a series with protagonists from the – at that time – very active drag king scene in berlin.

anja weber collaborates with other artists, as for example the sound artist sabine ercklentz. together they developed the audio-visual installation serious game (2009), based on portraits and interviews with trans*activists.

anja weber studied photography in dortmund (germany), exeter (uk) and new york. she was a fulbright scholar at new york university and the international center of photography.

anja lives in berlin.

http://www.anjaweber.com/

images exhibited:
Trystan, 2008, from the series: California Beautiful
Kalil, 2007, from the series: California Beautiful
Pussycoxx, 2002, from the series: Berlin Drag Kings

 

claude cahun

as claude cahun is no longer alive, we have formulated what is important to us concerning claude cahun in the context of the exhibition.

claude cahun (1894–1954), a photographer and writer who chose their own name. claude cahun lived in paris and the channel island jersey with marcel moore_suzanne malherbe during the nazi occupation. they collaborated in different artistic formats like photography, writing and political artistic interventions (for example in artistic opposition to the nazis).

one focus of claude cahun’s work is the self-portraits, which we perceive as questioning two-gender-norms and two-gendered images in many different ways.

however, claude cahun has not been exhibited very often up until now, and their work and life has also often been interpreted in heteronormative cisgendered ways. moreover, the intensive and life-long artistic and political collaboration between claude cahun and marcel moore is seldom acknowledged.

many of claude cahun’s works, photography as well as writing, can be found in the jersey heritage collection: http://jerseyheritagetrust.jeron.je/

the recent novel diese gezeiten by katharina geiser, written in german, trans_forms some of claude cahun’s and marcel moore’s writings and artistic interventions into a narration about their life on jersey.

images exhibited:
self-portrait, 1928
self-portrait, circa 1938
self-portrait, 1916
self-portrait, 1928

 

coco riot

a queer spanish migrant artist living in canada, coco riot believes that art is not a tool for social change but social change itself.

in their work, coco riot loves exploring the multiple social possibilities of drawing and language through installation, animation film, print media, graphic novels, comics and in-site drawing exhibitions. the topics that fuel their inspiration range from queer politics, social and personal memories, living in different languages and the experience of migration, to coco’s desire for bright colours and the love for poetry and repetitive patterns. in their work, coco riot uses personal experiences as metaphors to talk about social and political experiences.

coco’s work has been shown in museums, galleries and festivals from new york to barcelona, all through montreal, toronto, berlin, turin, madrid and a lot of friends’ living rooms.

oh! and coco uses the pronoun they and is the co-founder, with elisha lim, of the well-known trans art tumblr call me they.

http://cocoriot.com/

works exhibited:
trans pride online art project call me they together with elisha lim
video-poem los sentidos together with elisha lim

 

elisha lim

elisha lim is unusually happy to have been raised in an all-girls catholic convent on a tropical island. it may have motivated lim’s enthusiasm to celebrate and decorate queer people of colour, having such first hand experience of their charm and variety. elisha lim takes great pleasure in creatively portraying the beauty, dignity and power of being neither straight, nor white, nor cis-gendered. lim has illustrated novels, wall calendars, books and magazines with this mission, including the bitch magazine acclaimed sissy calendar, the illustrated gentleman, and most notably – 100 butches, a graphic novel of portraits and anecdotes about masculine queers.

100 butches earns a lot of publicity from its introduction by new york times bestselling author alison bechdel, and still accomplishes lim’s covert plan, with a 90% quota of racialized models, and an unabashed dedication “to queers of colour”.

http://elishalim.com/

works exhibited:
trans pride online art project call me they together with coco riot
graphics from the series 100 butches:
no 7: tomee
no 20: qiu jin
no 42: sherry
no 43: samira
video-poem los sentidos together with coco riot

 

goodyn green

goodyn green is a queer feminist photographer, born in aalborg/denmark 1979. she graduated as an art and history primary school teacher from n. zahles college of education in copenhagen in 2005, but after 2 years of teaching she decided to move to berlin to focus on photography. since the first issue in 2009, goodyn has been the main photographer of berlin based bend over magazine. the same magazine presented greens first photo collection, the catalog, with erotic images of androgynous looking queer women inspired by poses from classic gay porn magazines.

green often has a strong feminist agenda in creating awareness of female sexuality as “aggressive” as the depicted male sexuality, – through pornographic and erotic portraits of queer women.

currently she is working on a portrait project with models who identify as women, but who are frequently mistaken for another gender, harassed or insulted in public or private. through this green wants to put a focus on the uncountable variations of female expressions. furthermore she is busy photographing for her series mixed feelings – a series of photographs of women in intimate moments seen through green’s eyes as their lover or girlfriend.

http://goodyngreen.com/

works exhibited:
3 images from the series mixed feelings

 

ja’n sammla

my topics_ways_wordings_engagements in and with the exhibition:

presence. becoming present. being present in collective actions_collective acting. community. the importance of community. its fragility. dyke_trans-community as my self_concept of living_living through_living on and in and living in moments_tears_ rising_longing for strength.

sharedacting_thinking_moving_understanding * creating&searching * ent_ starren_berühren_ver_bünden * engaging * fließen&rauschen * de_fracturing _zusammen_setzen – to be present_in being here and now_in the process and in the struggles. being present_being in contact in my works_reflec­tions_activisms in dyke_transing utopian acting. with utopia as everyday action.

the podcasts exhibited are audio-collages of recordings created on 4 derivas – collective_connecting movings_walkings through berlin in small groups of 2 to 4. on the derivas, we visited locations and talked about localizations of empowering and interventional actions_wordings_connections in dyke_transed contexts. i understand the podcasts as momentary_fragile _searching presences of collective dyke_transing actions. thanx to the derivantykes for their commitment, connecting and sharing.

and thanx to lann for our sharing of the (for me) new and inspiring creative processes, for mutual creatings&searchings, for being in movement and letting our processes with the exhibition be moving&touching&shifting.

works exhibited:
podcast community. audio-collage aus: dyke_trans_feministische derivas zu uto­pischem handeln und community. 2011
podcast utopisches handeln. audio-collage aus: dyke_trans_feministische deri­vas zu utopischem handeln und community. 2011

 

justin time

justin time is a multi media artist, stonemason, linedance instructor, filmmaker, trans* curator, feminist, gender interrogator, cowboy, traveller and tango beginner. in my art projects i research and subvert the spheres of „normal“, appropriate and transform common myths and paradigms. i am likewise fascinated and nauseated by media constituted role types, so i use them, challenge them, try to slightly change their meanings and to take them ad absurdum. the goal of my works and projects is to stir things up and raise questions, for i don´t claim to know all the answers. what do you think you look at on the picture? how does a label affect your perception? why is it so important to know, to classify? maybe there´s no word for it?

http://justintimeproductions.de/

images exhibited:
natural, 2012
real, 2012

 

lann hornscheidt

since working most of all with linguistic practices, the making of a film on dyke_trans, together with layla zami, has been a new experience and an important step for transforming political knowledge productions for me. literary artistic productions, which i read as the dyke_transing of perceptions, have been important to me for a long time; and now here they are contextualized by various personal stories and perceptions of what dyke_transing means for different people. thanx to layla. thanx to all others engaged and involved in the making of the film!

for me, creating the exhibition together with ja’n has been processual_ challenging_widening_intensive unfinished_exciting_touching_moving spaces _times_forms. our movements_ways_traces through and with the exhibition, with artistic political actions, our openings_questionings_discussions_ hesitations, our perceiving_reading_despairing_disarriving with forms of interaction_work_exhibiting have been complex_beginnings_beings_a con­tact_communications. thanx ja’n.

work exhibited:
film: spuren legen_verwischen. a feminist videopoem, together with layla zami, 2012

 

layla zami

“dis_visualizing?”

solitary people and their surroundings. questioning and the quest for harmony. people stepping into new worlds, step by step creating their own worlds. the dreamer blowing away the stormy past and cloudy futures to create a second of eternity. the dancer’s body linking the ground she anchored and the air she s breathing. photographs sometimes bear traces of tenderness.

“re_locating?”

in exhibiting images, i am re-projecting a moment… but a new moment is created in the viewing context! the observers are free to project their own creativity. watching the viewers viewing, i feel how each one enters the exhibition space with their personal emotions. and i like to show you who is behind the camera. who am i in this photographic instant how do i relate to the people i photographed and how do you relate to them through me?

“de_silencing?”

de_silencing for me means voicing our dreams, naming ourselves and printing beautiful faces and spaces on a glossy paper. we are black indian jewish and so much more we are lesbians queer dykes we are not yin or yang we are both and we are beyond. we are no longer waiting in line for your magazines your preferences we re*create our own stories and spaces. we are loving lovers we are… beautiful!

this is how i relate to this exhibition and its concept. i thank lann, ja’n, the beautiful people (not forgetting myself;) i photographed, i thank my sista anouchK for her connecting spirit and i thank my muse oxana for her feminist loving.

ubuntu ngumuntu nga bantu

laYla Zami

http://www.laylazami.net/

works exhibited:
images:
mind blowing – Ilya Washington
reach out, move in – Oxana Chi
laYla by Layla Zami

film: spuren legen_verwischen. a feminist videopoem, together with lann hornscheidt, 2012

 

zanele muholi

zanele muholi was born in umlazi, durban, in 1972, and lives in cape town. she studied photography at the market photo workshop in newtown, johannesburg. she was a founder of the forum for the empowerment of women (few), a Black lesbian organisation based in gauteng. recent solo shows have taken place at the gladstone hotel in toronto and at fred, london (2010). she was the recipient of the 2005 tollman award for the visual arts, the first bhp billiton/wits university visual arts fellowship in 2006, and was the 2009 ida ely rubin artist-in-residence at the massachusetts institute of technology (mit). in 2009 she received a fanny ann eddy accolade from irn-africa for her outstanding contributions to the study of sexuality in africa. she also won the casa africa award for best female photographer and a fondation blachère award at les rencontres de bamako biennial of african photography in 2009. in 2010 her faces and phases series was included on the 29th são paulo biennale; the series was published by prestel and nominated as best photobook of 2010 at the international photobook festival in kassel.

zanele muholi is included on the group show tête-à-tête curated by mickalene thomas at rhona hoffman gallery, chicago (29 march to 5 may), and on appropriated landscapes at the walther collection, neu-ulm/burlafingen, germany (until may 2013). her award-winning documentary difficult love shows in st petersburg, together with an exhibition of prints, as part of the open eyes film festival against racism and xenophobia (13 to 23 april); at the 14th international women’s film festival in seoul (19 to 26 april); and at the lesbian spring festival in toulouse presented by bagdam espace lesbien on 21 april.

http://www.stevenson.info/artists/muholi.html

www.zanelemuholi.com

works exhibited:
images from the series only half the picture:
not butch but my legs are, 2005
what don’t you see when you look at me 1, 2004

images from the series new faces and phases:
zanele muholi, 2011
phumzile nkosi, 2011
matshidiso mofokeng, 2010
mpho mtsweni, 2010

 

 

performing artists at the opening night:

agnes lampkin (textperformance)

mother – person of color – basketballer – freelancer –freeminder – minder – actor – actress – agnes

born in gloucester (gb) 1973, moved to switzerland 1984

studied acting 1993-1996 at the hochschule der künste in zürich. since coming to germany in 1997 she has appeared onstage at the theaterhaus jena, theaterhaus stuttgart, schaubühne berlin, maxim gorki berlin, schauspiel essen, theater bielefeld, theater unterm dach, sophiensaele and at the english theatre berlin. in switzerland she has performed at the schauspielhaus zürich, theater basel, theater luzern and rote fabrik zürich among others.

 

nancy rohde (graffiti)

nancy rohde was educated as a painter/varnisher when she realized that she had a talent working with paint. from that point on, she started combining spraying with stenciling and realized that that was a good combination with graffiti.

nancy sprays graffiti in different social_political contexts like female clash (may 2012 berlin) and leads workshops with young people on graffiti, for example with the beraberce and culture on the road.


http://de-de.facebook.com/nancy.rohde.1

 

oxana chi (dance)

the themes and ideas of my work are based on my life and surroundings. it focuses on time-less, rest-less and dreams of how life could be. my dance shows as well our role in society, recalls our history, questions political movements. it brings different cultures and arts together to create a global art dance performance. something new – out – of it!
www.oxanachi.de

 

sonia lemos (dj-set)

sonia lemos is an ex-actress and ex-ballerina and the creator of mc xuparina, a dyke artist who sings/performs funk to save their soul. sonia lemos is a dj and plays soul and favela funk.

http://pt-br.facebook.com/mcxuparina
http://www.myspace.com/mcxuparina

 

traces and fractures through and with the concept: to dyke_trans | dis_visualizing re_locating de_silencing |

to dyke_trans

to act | acting | to interact | interacting | acting critically politically reflectively | shaping locations | shaping critical positionings | creating_visualizing_ constructing critical positionings | to act_inter_act to | inter_acting_inter | in_between_beyond_with_through_by different presumptions conceptions ideas imaginations | re-enacting empowering feelings conceptualizations |

to dyke_trans

is an open position | a fluid process | a momentary breathing | is dynamic | continuously under construction_reconstruction_rebuilding_refurnishing_relo­cating | is being in a moment | being in continuous changing processes movements | is shaping dyke_stories trans_stories community-stories personal stories reconstructing times and places | adapting time and places resignifying notions of time and place| is daring to be to be present to be there to be here to be being

is dynamically processual opening breathing empowering unfinishing re_starting again and again | is searching going moving touching motioning feeling opening laughing connecting | shaping presences being present

is now

is here

is living

 

to dyke_trans

is fluid | dynamic | empowering | powerful | loud | silent | collectively perceived | individually enacted | is interaction | fractures | short breaks | breathing | continuously arriving | arriving in motion | motion | emotion | feeling | relaxing | being in the world | being world | being is

to dyke_trans

is dis_arriving | feeling being open being space feeling space | open space | opening space | is questioning hesitating rapturing | re_locating perceptions speaking listening seeing writing | is living visions | visionalizing life and living | is wording struggling for words visions perceptions | searching for new visualizations | visualizing social actions | visualizing visions is

to dyke_trans

is being aware of voids fractures hesitations questions dissolutions | struggling for visions | fighting for words | yearning_fighting for presence | being | being here and now

 

to dyke_trans life

to dyke_trans living

living with paradoxes in moments | ambivalences | beyond dichotomies | living on the line on the limit on the border on the edge in the space openly | living community | living_feeling at home for moments in words in images in meeting others | finding dyke_trans-affirming_constituting actions_feelings_atmos­pheres_locations_positionings for moments | moments of now | living moments | letting go of securities definitions exclusions categorizations | letting go of exclusions and hierarchies | insecuring closing-ups of definitions and norms | re_organizing reflecting challenging categorizations social localizations | re_organizing one’s positioning in reflecting and working with interdependent power relations | being in acting being in moments

to dyke_trans social contexts reflecting interdependent power relations working for mutual engagements against sexism against racism against ableism | feeling_seeing_realizing differences shaped and re_constructed by inter­dependent power relations | locating selves in moments in situations in contexts with others | anew every time | shaping feelings of community in connecting dyke_transselves in inter_actions_inter feelings presences emotions actions | de_limiting dyke_transings in acknowledging interdependent power relations and fights and choices people take_make

to dyke_trans moving to put into movement putting into action irritating challenging finding dyke_trans-feeling-selves in challenges irritations move­ments paradoxes ambivalences

to dyke_trans in questioning | in searching for questions in answering with and in questions

to dyke_trans ways | words | images | locations | positionings

 

[embodied bodily unlimited presence breathing visions unfinished processual]

 

to dyke_trans  |  dis_visualizing  |

the gaps in between | the gaps as places_locations | moving gaps moving perceptions | widening gaps to new spaces | dis: unclear visualizations_ looks_gazes_sights_perceptions | disharmonic disobedient dis­placed distant |

reading dyke_transself into images | visualizing dyke_trans | becoming aware of dis_visualizations | see what is in_visible | reflect upon what seeing is, who ‘can’ see and who cannot – and who can realize who can see and who cannot | perceiving the dis_perceived | inventing visions by visualizing anew | shaping visions shaping visualizations in seeing_looking_gazing breaking gazes disrupting gaze-conventions | seeing as action for dyke_transing | dyke_ transing visions | visualizing utopias in dis_visualizing re_locations | questioning visions as ableistic

 

to dyke_trans |  re_locating  |

locating dyke_transself-feelings in visualizing locations | to dyke_trans locations | locating dyke_transed visions | locating in utopian acting | visualizing dyke_transed re_locating perceptions_actions_feelings | locating within gaps and fractures of dis_intelligibility | visualizing locations shaping locations | is dyke_transing perceptions_words_views_images_visions_listenings | making positionings fluid processual dynamic | dyke_transing positionings in making persons_communities moved | moving concepts of locations in making moving locations | making utopian actions_movements moving heres and nows shaping_wanting_wishing here and now-actions_moments_presence | shaping _re_constructing_building_daring utopias fluidly_processual_ever­changing_ dynamically utopian movements | dynamic_processual_fragile_momen­tary re_locating moments_actions_beings

 

to dyke_trans |  de_silencing  |

voids of silences | moments of here and now | awareness of being | being aware | continuously searching for wordings_listenings | reflecting and wording and visualizing against the unintelligibility of interdependent power relations | listenings_wordings which will never be fitting never be finished never arriving | arriving as never ending process never ending | de-finishing wordings_ locations | dynamizing wordings | questioning answers| searching de_ silencings and giving room for silences where no words_sounds can reach | shaping space by listening| accepting silences in de_silencing noises which try to outsound perceptions | listening to silences | silencing de_listenings

 

to raise the voice | listening | shouting out silences | speaking up

 

| volume |

high and low

regulating listening_speaking

cracking_breaking_trembling voices | being loud crying shouting out | flying_ swimming_running voices | silences hearing silence listening to silences | flying listening | being aware of silencings_cryings speaking up listening to dropping_leaking_blocked_excluded_ignored tears_voices

 

listening loudly

listening slowly_precisely_specific

speaking up | shouting out

 

to dyke_trans: exhibition

the exhibition was part of a larger project – a lab with the title: politicizing trans / trans_forming politics (please find the events blog and documentation with videos and podcasts here).

the lab was taking place in may 2012 in berlin at different locations. the exhibition has been conceptualized and organized by ja’n and lann, with support from the lab-team as well as other dyke_transed people. the lab team consisted of julz, rüzgår, steffi, ja’n and lann. it was financed by intergender, an international gender studies graduate school, situated in linköping, sweden. the exhibition was in addition to that financed by ‘private’ money as well.

the idea for the lab’s topic has been initiated on an intergender board meeting and is a mutual preliminary idea by wibke and lann. the concrete realisation of the whole lab with different formats has been discussed in the aforementioned preparation team. applying different forms of knowledge production with different perspectives has been one important part of the lab. the exhibition’s concept has been elaborated in this context. the anti-genderist focus by and through the concept to dyke_trans has been strongly influenced by the conceptualization of the political positioning dyke_trans, as it has been formulated by the group ‘ag einleitung’ in the book ‘feminismus schreiben lernen’ from 2011 (ak feministische sprachkritik). in this context, dyke_trans has been a newly established term to find an empowering self-appellation for persons discriminated by multiple forms of sexism/genderism. by way of this form, an earlier unnameable positioning has been made explicit as an empowering form of political intervention into genderism. the exhibition to dyke_trans has further elaborated on this concept by changing it from a noun form, implying some kind of essentialized identity, to a verb form. the verb form implies a concept of political positioning which is strongly based on situational and context-sensitive ideas of actions: political positionings are thus understood as forms of action which are not legible over time and space but have to be decided upon again and again for every single moment. this idea has even been processed further in the concept trans_x_ing by xart splitta, making an activist criticism on binary genderings even more central. the exhibition has tried to transform this complex conceptualization of dyke_transing into various forms of visual and performative actions and gazing as a powerful form to re_shape visualizations within this context. the ideas to focus on artistic_political forms of dyke_transing and to focus on visual politics and gazing forms of activities has been strongly influenced by ideas and concepts of tina m. campt’s book image matter. archive, photography, and the african diaspora in europe 2012 as well as nicole r. fleetwood’s book troubling vision. performance, visuality, and blackness 2011. ella shohats edited book talking visions. multicultural feminism in a transnational age 1998 is a very inspiring source for the combination of different forms of knowledge production – artistic, political and academic in an exhibition and publication on anti-racist feminism.

the exhibition’s framing in this text here, takes these different ideas into some sort of momentary historicizing narration. there are much more framings we could make, like exhibitions we have visited or pictures that inspired us. whatever framing we are making, it is formulated from an anti-genderist white ableist staticised perspective.

‘to dyke_trans’, as we have formulated it for and with and in the exhibition, is only one possible form of realisation which is also dependent on the interdependent localization it is formulated from. it is strongly obliged to a critical activist reflection of genderism which is thereby also critically reflecting and acting against racism_ableism_classism_migratism from our positioning which are privileged with regard to racism_ableism_classism_migratism.

the exhibition was only a starting point for asking ourselves many new questions, for reflecting our perceptions and aesthetic norms, and we am happy to proceed in many different ways by and with projects in xart splitta to continue on this way. already during the process of making this exhibition, we tried to find more pictures/images which not only depict single persons or pair constellations but dyke_transing groups and actions like interventions, taking public space. with our recent concept of trans_x_ing spaces_perspectives_perceptions, we are still very much engaged into these questions. 

from the booklet:

 

kritische ver_ortung und soziale positionierung – ein (selbst)interview

– was heißt kritische ver_ortung für dich?

das heißt für mich: zu reflektieren, wie ich sozial positioniert bin in den kontexten, in denen ich mich bewege und die mein selbstverständnis immer wieder bestimmen und herausfordern. und es heißt auch: zu reflektieren, in welchen kontexten und situationen ich mich wie bewegen kann, in welchen nicht oder nur anders.

in bezug auf mein arbeiten in und mit xart splitta bin ich trans_x_t ver_ortet oder andersherum: mein arbeiten ist trans_x_t, indem ich für, mit und in xart splitta arbeite.

– und was bedeutet trans_xt?

zum einen heißt dies, dass ich zweigenderungen infragestelle, das heißt die in tausend situationen immer wieder gemachte annahme, dass es frauen und männer gäbe, weiblichkeit und männlichkeit. dass dies die pole und endpunkte von menschlichen handlungsmöglichkeiten und einlesungen seien – vielleicht mit irgendwas unbestimmtem dazwischen, aber zweigenderung, das gibt es auf jeden fall. und dann heißt es auch, dass ich die idee, dass zweigenderung jenseits von rassistischen und ableistischen, jenseits von migratistischen und klassistischen normen und vorstellungen besteht, hinterfrage: es gibt nicht die zweigenderung, sondern vorstellungen davon sind auch immer durchzogen und geprägt von rassismus, ableismus, klassismus, migratismus: das heißt es gibt nicht nur eine für ‘alle’ gültige und mögliche vorstellung von trans_xten handlungen, sondern trans_xte handlungen und vorstellungen aus einer weiß privilegierten positionierung und welche aus einer anti-rassistischen, d.h. Schwarzen kritischen ver_ortung. das kann sich überschneiden, gemeinsamkeiten haben, kann aber auch ganz unterschiedlich sein.

eine ausdifferenzierung von trans_xten handlungen heißt also auch infragetzustellen, dass es universell weiblichkeit und männlichkeit gäbe, ganz unabhängig und jenseits von allem anderen. mit meinen als weiße ableisierte person unreflektierten vorstellungen von zwei_genderung re_produziere ich auch immer eine rassistische, ableistische, migratistische und klassistische norm – nämlich eine vorstellung einer weißen ableisierten statisierten mittelschicht weiblichkeit als die weiblichkeit. alle anderen formen sind dann ‚zusätzlich‘ oder abweichungen oder so. und die spezifik der weißen ableisierten statisierten mittelschichtsweiblichkeit ist universalisiert, und wird so zum prototyp von weiblichkeit erklärt – zumindest für weiße ableisierte personen, die sich ihre eigenen normen so auch immer wieder bestätigen und so glauben für ‘alle’ sprechen zu können.

– konkret bedeutet dass also für dich …?

also konkret bedeutet es zum beispiel: dass ich sehr lange gar nicht benennen konnte, dass weder weiblichkeit noch männlichkeit für mich stimmt, dass ich mich nicht entscheiden muss und dass ich mein hadern mit sowohl weiblichkeit, meine disidentifikation damit ‚frau‘ zu sein genauso ernst nehmen kann wie meine ablehnung von männlichkeit – männlichkeit, die für mich immer auch genderistisch privilegiert ist. dass ich also diese schwierige situation des nicht mich gemeint fühlens mit weiblichkeit und männlichkeitund mein disidentifizieren mit sowohl weiblichkeit als auch männlichkeit ernst nehmen kann und in kritische politiken umsetzen kann, die eben beispielsweise eine weiße ableisierte norm von zweigenderung herausfordern.

ich habe mich lange in meinem leben damit abgekämpft und gestruggelt, was es heißt, weiblich zu sein, weiblich eingelesen zu werden, weiblich auszusehen, zu sprechen, weiblichkeit zu performen in einer weißen gesellschaft als weiße person, nicht aufzufallen oder nur im rahmen erwartbarer, unbenannt weißer ableisierter weiblichkeitsvorstellungen positiv aufzufallen – hab also versucht zu verstehen und zu performen, was andere wollen, um mich ‘wohl’ zu fühlen, zum das gefühl zu haben sein zu können und zu dürfen in gesellschaft. ich bin also sozial als weiße weibliche person über lange strecken meines lebens in allen möglichen kontexten und von allen möglichen instanzen und personen positioniert worden – und dachte dass es also so ist – als weiblich positioniert und gleichzeitig als nicht-passend, monströs, zu extem für diese kategorisierung, unpassend und das wäre meine ‘schuld’, immer auch stigmatisiert und reglementiert worden. meine von-außen-positionierung als weiblich weiß ableisiert ist also lange ein teil meiner sozialen positionierung gewesen. diese soziale positionierung ist mir so selbsterklärend selbstverständlich, dass ich sie gar nicht merke. also dass ich nicht merke, dass ich sie an sich auch in frage stellen könnte. wenn ich versuche meine interdependente soziale positionierung kritisch zu reflektieren und in politische handlungen zu über_setzen, dann wird daraus eine kritische ver_ortung: wenn ich reflektiere wie weiblichkeitsnormen weiße normalisierungen reproduzieren und frauisierte zu_richten, ausgrenzen, entwahrnehmen – und ich dies immer wieder versuche handelnd produktiv umzusetzen, dann bin ich – in diesen momenten, in denen ich das klar hab, in denen ich das versuche, riskiere, ausprobiere reflektiere, in diesen momenten bin ich dann kritisch anti-genderistisch verortet.

– nur in diesen momenten?

ja genau, nur in diesen momenten. kritische ver_ortung bedeutet für mich, dass es eine handlung ist, eine haltung, ein suchen und versuchen und dass dies immer auf konkrete situationen und kontexte bezogen ist. deshalb schreibe und sage ich auch trans_x_t, also eine verbform (oder was auch immer genau das jetzt ist…). durch die verbform hab ich die möglichkeit, für jede meiner handlungen und haltungen genau zu überlegen, ob sie eigentlich trans_x_end sind. das heißt, es gibt keine übergreifende immergültige zuschreibung trans_x_t.

– trans_x_ing – die englische verlaufsform – sagt also auch dass es keine identität ist?

genau. trans_x_ing hinterfragt durch diesen kontextuellen und situativen ansatz auch identitätspolitiken: ich bin nicht trans_x, ich handele trans_x_t – oder eben auch nicht. das fühlt sich super erleichternd und klärend an und bringt mich endlichendlich weg davon frau zu sein: ich kann so handeln, dass ich frauisiert wirke, wahrgenommen werde, mich selber so ver_orte. dann ist frau eine feministische ver_ortung. in den konventionellen zuschreibungen von weiblichkeit, in die ich passe oder nicht passe, ist frau-sein eine soziale positionierung, die mir angetragen wird, auf mich drauf geworfen wird, die ich annehme, ablehne, modifiziere.

kritisch ver_ortet zu handeln ist also immer auch selbstempowerment, ist selbstbestimmt. soziale positonierungen sind im besten fall kritische analytische zuschreibungen und kategorisierungen, im schlechtesten fall die ich sag jetzt mal ‚alltagsweltlichen‘ normen und zuschreibungen an denen ich mich die ganze zeit mehr oder weniger abarbeite, die ich teilweise oder größtenteils verinnerlicht habe, die mir zuspruch, anerkennung, wiedererkennung, halt, sicherheit aber eben auch verzweiflung, diskriminierung, schale nicht-anwesenheit geben.

die verbformen kritischer ver_ortung wie trans_x_en, dyke_transen, frauisieren – je nach eigener positionierung in einer bestimmten situation – empowern mich dazu immer wieder selbst handeln zu können, handlungen zu versuchen, auszuprobieren, überlegen zu können, die mir eine selbstbestimmung und eine anwesenheit geben. die verbformen und ihre kontinuierlich situative anwendung ermöglichen es auch immer wieder genau zu überlegen, wann und wo ich mich traue mich kritisch zu ver_orten, was ich dafür brauche. die verbform macht es mir möglich, meine kritischen ver_ortungen als handlungsmöglichkeiten zu verstehen und nicht für ein- und allemal als fest- und zuschreibungen zu begreifen, die mir nicht entsprechen und die ich sowieso nicht erfüllen kann.

 

weiterlesen zu politics of location/ kritischer ver_ortung:

adrienne rich (1984 [2003]): notes toward a politics of location. in: lewis, mills: feminist postcolonial theory. a reader.
chandra talpade mohanty (1987): feminist encounters: locating the politics of experience. copyright 1
michele wallace (1989): the politics of location: cinema/theory/literature/ethnicity/sexuality/me. framework, no. 36
lata mani (1989): multiple mediations: feminist scholarship in the age of multinational reception, inscriptions 5
inderpal grewal (1994): autobiographic subjects and diasporic locations: meatless days and borderlands. in grewal and kaplan, eds. scattered hegemonies
caren kaplan (1994): the politics of location as transnational feminist practice. in grewal and kaplan, (eds.) scattered hegemonies.
may ayim (2002) afrodeutsch I. in may ayim. grenzenlos und unverschämt. frankfurt/main 180-181.
encarnación gutiérrez rodriguez (2003) repräsentation, subalternität und postkoloniale kritik. in: spricht die subaltern deutsch? migration und postkoloniale kritik. hito steyerl und encarnación gutiérrez rodriguez (hrsg.), münster, 17-37.
grada kilomba (ferreira) (2003) die kolonisierung des selbst – der platz des Schwarzen. in: spricht die subaltern deutsch? migration und postkoloniale kritik. hito steyerl und encarnación gutiérrez rodriguez (hrsg.), münster, 146-165.
alyosxa tudor (2011) feminismus w_orten lernen. praktiken kritischer ver_ortung in feministischen wissensproduktionen. in ak feministische sprachpraxis, (hrsg.) feminismus schreiben lernen. frankfurt/main, 57-99.