Workshops, listening piece
#Feralizing: Day 3
Registrations are possible now
Feral is what was first changed by humans but is now beyond systems of control and escapes domestication. Ferality can be messy, unruly, the impure realm between the natural and artificial, between technology and imagination, science and art. Humans and nonhuman animals, ecologies, effects, processes, but also theories can be feral in this sense. Few outside of desolate circumstances will choose the feral state, which is often marked by violence, isolation and insecurity. Yet what is the current political, ecological and social situation if not desolate? For this edition of the New Alphabet School modern witches, artists, urban gardeners, storytellers and escapees explore these multidimensional spaces in lectures and workshops, inquiring how to address, create and use feral cartographies as liberating confusions. How can feral spirituality be practiced when connections to certain traditions have been lost? How can we address feral phenomena that cannot be grasped in established categories? Is it possible to feralize one’s thoughts?
Curated in cooperation with Agata Kowalewska and Jacob Eriksen
Saturday, June 11
9.30 am
In the Eye of the Storm
Listening piece at the Goethe-Institut Warsaw and Q&A with AM Kanngieser (via video), moderated by Jacob Eriksen
In English
In 2016, the category 5 cyclone Winston hit Fiji with wind speeds of up to 300km/hour generating waves of 12 meters and higher. In the Eye of the Storm brings together stories of care and love, self-determination, ecological repair and the legacies of colonialism to reflect on the impacts and aftermath of this tropical cyclone. On February 20th at around 6:30 pm local time, it made landfall on Levu Viti and displaced hundreds of thousands of people, cutting power, water and communication, taking lives and flattening entire villages. An estimated 350,000 people were significantly affected by the storm. Weaving together poetry and prose with field-recordings and sound composition, the piece centers the words and voices of four Fijian poets, artists and scientists to build a narrative that collapses time in the face of climate catastrophe. Featuring the poetry of Krystelle Lavaki, Atueta Rabuka, Amelia Rigsby and Peter Sipeli.
11 am–1.30 pm
Workshop at the Goethe-Institut Warsaw, with registration
(Un)bound Sounds
with Paula Montecinos Oliva
In English
What movement emerges when sound becomes heat and energy, looping and amplifying in the body? Unbound sounds is a space for the not-yet-named and the body that refuses to be captured. The workshop invites participants to explore the sonic body and to listen to the gaps and connections of matter and energy that change via relationality and reciprocity. Participants are invited to a collaborative practice to move through, towards and into the sonic. They will activate movement to meet halfway between fractured stories, fragmented dances, half-spoken words and half-screamed vocals. They are invited to play, improvise and set in motion transformative processes and non-hierarchic synchronicity.
11 am–2 pm
Online workshop, with registration
Experiencing Pain in the Prison of Ferality
with Saleh KY AbuShamala and Rawand A. Hilles
In English
In between the practice of routine life, exceptional dreams and unlimited aspirations: The life of Palestinian youth, especially in Gaza can sometimes be described as feral. The siege on Gaza was not successful in eliminating reason and erasing knowledge, but it caused complex social dilemmas, set limits, it closed sources and reduced capabilities that would have aided in building a real homeland for Palestinians. This research-based workshop will look at the anthropology of pain for Palestinians. What manifestations of brutality do they face and how does this affect their cognitive paths? What can be done to liberate Palestinians from the siege on knowledge?
2.30–5.30 pm
Workshop at the Goethe-Institut Warsaw, with registration
Newen Mapuche. Feral Spirituality as Resistance
with Greta Di Girolamo and Consuelo Terra
In English
Can non-hegemonic spirituality fuel imagination against neo-colonial capitalism? For 500 years, the Mapuche Indigenous people have fiercely rebelled against Incas, Spanish, the Chilean State and transnationals. Mapuche spirituality and their Machis are key in their resistance. In the workshop, participants will review Greta Di Girolamo and Consuelo Terra’s comic about Millaray Huichalaf, a Machi who defends the sacred river Pilmaiken from hydroelectric projects. In the context of wars, climate and health crises, they will address concepts like Itrofill mongen (one great life composed of many interdependent lives), the ngen (spirits of nature) and newen (strength) to protect natural-spiritual ecosystems. Using mixed techniques, participants will map their own ecosystem and later connect them in a greater collective ecosystem to see the interactions. What are the places, rituals and beings that give them strength? Can attuning to a feral interconnectedness help heal a fractured world?
6–9 pm
Workshop, with registration
Towards a Working Definition of Safe Space: The Case for Partying
with Aparecida Arguello, Ivy Ashleigh Da Gorriti, Liv Furga and Tomasz Szczepanek
In English
There is a right to dance, have fun and go crazy, without fear of being attacked, denied-entry, or having to meet violent standards. Aimed at community organizers, space keepers, event hosts and members of the queer community, this workshop will be a place for sharing, thinking and improving the making of so-called safe spaces. This concept has become commonplace in grassroots movements, but could be applied elsewhere and be a blueprint for better social fabrics. While tracing its roots, participants should bring their best practices, strategies and concerns regarding the issue. The case of partying will be used as a metaphor to dwell into questions of responsibility and coexistence, with the assignment of setting up a working prototype to be put into practice at an open event held later with other locals.
9 pm–12 midnight
Sonic Adventures of Themsel in Distress
With Liv Furga and Tomasz Szczepanek