Chop chop! Poetry is not a Luxury - Poetry is Contamination
"What is the color of your memories right now? Imagine typing on a black page on the screen, starting from the sea´s abyss that is not nothing. The page could have been white and empty but nothing whatsoever can be empty or universal (all-embracing) as we pass from one era to another, as we trace one history after the other. My page is blue, as transparent as the Aegean waters around Lesvos, as dark as the oceanic waves."
The workshop is inspired by Audre Lorde´s viewpoint: rather than being a luxury, poetry is “a vital necessity” that gives life and voice to what is unnamed and as yet unthought, and thus overcomes the forces in society that silence (black) women’s experiences. Poetry is a tool for contaminating dominant language(s) and a path for anticipating our dreams and desires. We will practice poetry as a way for telling im/possible stories, weaving memories and relating to each other.
No poetry or linguistic background is needed – we* do trust the interconnections between our earthly surroundings and polyphonic histories, and the relations to human and non-human friends, our beloved ones, the places in which life, work, movement, struggles etc. happens.
about
Sofia Bempeza is an artist, poet (She-Dandy), theorist and multilingual educator, who works collaboratively in different learning environments and queer-feminist spaces. She* is Professor for Art and Communication Practices at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.