MANIFEST Yourself! (Queer) Feminist Manifestos since the Suffragettes (2023)

Video (2:51): The exhibition MANIFEST Yourself! (2023) retraces the development of (queer) feminist manifestos through a selection of statements issued by women*, trans and non-binary people around the world.

MANIFEST Yourself! (Queer) Feminist Manifestos since the Suffragettes
at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
18.11.2022-22.01.2023
Curated by Valeria Schulte-Fischedick
Assistant Curator: Luise von Nobbe
Filmography: Arthur Debert
Music from the movie “Born in Flames“ (Lizzie Borden, 1983)

“The exhibition MANIFEST Yourself! retraces the development of (queer) feminist manifestos through a selection of public, often politically motivated statements issued by women*, trans and non-binary people in different contexts. These various feminisms have evolved from the white and academically influenced beginnings of the 1960s and 1970s towards an inter- sectional understanding: besides categories such as biological sex and gender identity, age or (dis)ability, and class or religious affiliation, experiences of discrimination caused by segregation, colonial power structures or late-capitalist work conditions are increasingly coming into focus. In parallel with the #MeToo movement, which in recent years has led many prominent women* to express their dissent collectively, Black Feminism has gained a noticeable presence in society as a whole, amplified since 2013 by the #BlackLivesMatter movement. The detrimental objectification of the natural environment is also increasingly reflected in feminist manifestos, as ecological awareness and criticism of predominantly male-coded destructive violence and hubris are gaining ground. At the same time, more and more influential statements by women*, trans and non-binary people are emerging in techno- and cyberspace – from cyborgs and technoid slime to Glitch Feminism.

The exhibition MANIFEST Yourself! aims to demonstrate the unabated vitality of (queer) feminist manifesto culture since the suffragettes and reflect its variegated, sometimes contradictory aspects. To do so, it surveys different regions, cultural contexts and media. For the first time, it includes manifestos in the form of texts, sculptural objects, installations, soundtracks, videos and performances, as well as documents on the history of feminist manifestos.” – Künstlerhaus Bethanien

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