The two-day symposium entitled "What System Actually" refers to the German term "System-relevant", in reference to the essential workers "necessary" to keep "the system" running during the ongoing pandemic. Paradoxically, the pandemic has amplified the very exploitative conditions of neo-liberal capitalism, exposing the precariousness of many of the system's "relevant" workers. Through this symposium we would like to interrogate "the system" through thoughtful conversations about the potential to move beyond notions of competition & exploitation.
Aiming to imagine alternatives and share strategies about how to make this happen, we will take a close look at questions regarding art and activism; the democratisation of democracy; precarity, labour and migration; the structures of cultural institutions and their involvement with the private sector; the commoning of institutions and digital commoning practices; the decentering of western exhibition histories and the actual relevance of art in societies.
The symposium will take place on Zoom, which is a private and commercial communication tool officially provided by the University of Kassel – and will be available as a video- and audiostream on station of commons, an open source online platform. This broadcasting alternative opens the symposium up to a wider audience and poses the question: What system actually?
With artistic and discursive contributions by:
Angela Anderson, Yin Aiwen, Freja Bäckman, Nanne Buurman, Katalin Erdődi, Matthijs de Bruijne, Denise Ferreira da Silva, Stefanie Fridrik, Jan Gebbe, Juan Gomez, Lorenzo Graf, Ayşe Güleç, Iman Issa, Ksenia Kaverina, Jumana Manna, Oliver Marchart, Arjuna Neuman, Agnieszka Polska, Gregoire Rousseau, Nora Sternfeld, David von der Stein, Julia Stolba, Olaf Vahl, Cecilia Vallejos, Lorena Vicini, WHW (Nataša Ilićand Sabina Sabolović)
Programme (download)
In collaboration with: Station of Commons stationofcommons.org
To join the symposium, please enter the zoom link or streaming plattform on stationofcommons.org