[un]learning structures #1 | art and cultural work critical of discrimination

What should diversity-sensitive art & culture work actually be? What does it mean to establish work structures that are critical of discrimination? And who determines when a space is "sufficiently" diverse? In any case, it is clear: diversity without discrimination critique does not work!

In order to strengthen marginalized positions by opening up and changing one's own structures and ways of working in the art & culture sector, it is necessary to reflect on one's own social position and to design one's work in such a way that equal opportunities, participation and protection against discrimination are guaranteed.

In this workshop, we will first fundamentally address the effects and functions of racism and anti-semitism, clarify terms and explore pitfalls that institutions often find themselves in when attempting to open up to a critical approach to power. Using examples from cultural work, we will shed light on the steps that need to be taken and the challenges that need to be anticipated, and how much perseverance & assertiveness it takes to establish critical approaches to discrimination in the art & culture sector, so that participants can develop a critical perspective for their own practice.

Attendance for the full duration of the workshop is necessary in order to be able to sustainably apply the fundamental discussion of racism and anti-semitism at the beginning of the workshop in the subsequent practice deepening.

Golshan Ahmad Hashemi is a cultural scientist and performer. She works at the intersection of artistic, political & academic theory & practice on intersectional queer feminism, critique of racism & anti-Semitism, among others.

The events in the frame of [un]learning structures - curated and organized by nara virgens, epona hamdan & melmun bajarchuu - tackle questions of  how to produce in a way that is sensitive towards different forms of discriminiation and critical of power structures in the performing arts with a focus on accessibility from an anti-ableist perspective, racism through a structural lense, thinking about how sustainability intersects with these two themes – and how these approaches can be put into practice. more about the event series [un]learning structures