The project FEMMES ‚R‘ US is dedicated to contemporary feminist positions in the arts. A ten days exhibition, accompanied by lectures, discussions, film screenings, artistic performances and musical events, demonstrates that feminism and feminist critique play a crucial role in contemporary art and cultural production.
FEMMES ‚R‘ US develops from the work of the Berlin project FEMMES WITH FATAL BREAKS – an all female DJ-MC-network, whose members Ina Wudtke und Christine Lang curated this interdisciplinary program. The project is supported by the Capital Cultural Fund.
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panel on queer/feminist politics (in English)

Feminism – government’s mission? economic factor? insurrection?

• Fr 08. August 08 17:00-20:30 Radialsystem, Berlin-Ostbahnhof, Holzmarktstr. 33

inputs and discussion with: María do Mar Castro Varela *(Berlin) / Marina Gržinić *(Ljubliana, Slovenia) / Rosa Reitsamer *(Vienna, Austria) / Tiina Rosenberg *(Lund, Sweden) / Chris Straayer *(New York, U.S.) / Tim Stüttgen aka Timi Mei Monigatti *(Berlin)
moderated by / moderiert von: Antke Engel *(Institute for Queer Theory, Berlin)
as part of the Festival / im Rahmen des Festivals *Femmes ‚R‘ Us. Feminismus in Pop – Musik – Kunst – Film heute*
7.-16. August 2008
RADIALSYSTEM V, Holzmarktstr. 33, Berlin-Ostbahnhof
curated by / kuratiert von *Ina Wudtke and/und Christine Lang
*http://www.femmes-breaks.com/
*Feminism – government’s mission? economic factor? insurrection?
*Who are the actors in feminist politics today? Did feminism turn into a field of official politics, defined by president’s election campaigns, federal administration, global economic strategising, and academic career management? Does it make any sense at all to combine the terms feminism and insurrection today? And secondly: How does feminist practice deal with the fact that gender relations are no longer understood as structured exclusively by the category of gender, but by
various processes of social differentiation like education, post/colonialism, economic globalization, racism, heteronormativity? The idea of a simple binary of male versus female is widely challenged. How is this insight taken up by feminisms? Is queer feminism a promising answer to these questions?
*Inputs
*María do Mar Castro Varela (Berlin)
*„Learning to Swim in the Main-Stream…“
*According to Wikipedia Mainstream is „the common current of thought of the majority. (…) something that is ordinary or usual; something that is familiar to the masses; something that is available to the general public; something that has ties to corporate or commercial entities.“ In my presentation I will unpack the idea of „Gender Mainstreaming“ and „Mainstream Feminism” and search for possibilities to swim against the current flow. This includes some notes on the concept of the“masses” as well as the “ordinary and usual”. Can feminism be uncommon and extraordinary and still make sense to the „masses”? Does feminism have to be sensible? Or: How can we learn to swim in the main stream without being mainstreamed and without drowning?
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Marina Gržinić (Ljubliana, Slovenia)
*„New Feminism and the Political Act“
*„New feminism is politics!“ is the subtitle of the book /New Feminism: worlds of feminism, queer and networking conditions/, edited by me and Rosa Reitsamer. The book is conceptualized with a clear idea not to be another sign of the globalized capitalist world that is capable today to present together unthinkable positions and statements coming from
theory and practice of feminism. On the contrary, the book is conceptualized with the idea to challenge this „multi-culti“ palette of variations on the „same“ topic, that are now coming from different parts of the world. It presents a new conceptual and paradigmatic act that implies a new possible politics for the movement. An act is a paradoxical short circuit between words and activity. An act is always performed through enunciation and it not only changes the subject but as
well the Other to whom it was addressed.
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Rosa Reitsamer (Vienna, Austria)
*„**How to Become a Successful Feminist-Queer DJ in the Music Capital of the World“
* What are the feminist-queer networking strategies in Vienesse cluab culture? Collective strategies like founding and establishing virtual and local networks enable the exchange of knowledge and experiences. Projects are realized on this basis. In how far do these networking strategies reproduce dominant norms and values of „the“ music scene? In which respect do ruptures and challenges appear?
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*Tiina Rosenberg (Lund, Schweden)
*„Against Normal Feminism: The Queer Revenge in Swedish Contemporary Performance“
*Sweden is seen internationally as wonderland of equality. There still is a strong feminist tradition; though since 2005 one notices a decline. Nevertheless, feminist movements are alive and activley disrupting public normalcies. The oresentation will give examples of activist feminist performance art, discuss its queer tendencies as well as its connections to anti-racist and feminist class struggle.
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*Chris Straayer (New York)
*„Flouncing About in the Hetero-Sexual Gaze: Transsexual Women, Plastic Surgery, and the Dis-play of Femininity”
*Sexism and homophobia inhabit the heterosexual gaze as the oppositely directed vectors of aggression and repulsion toward women and queers, respectively. In the documentary /Alexis Arquette: She’s My Brother/ (Matthew Barbato, 2007), they are answered by a transsexual woman’s complicated exhibition, a nexus that unhinges assumptions about feminism
and plastic surgery, sexual proof and access.
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Tim Stüttgen aka Timi Mei Monigatti (Berlin)
*“Queerfeminist Desires: Notes on the Precarious Intellect“
*(MiniPerformance Lecture)
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For more details and biographical notes: http://www.femmes-breaks.com/
aus: FEMALE-L@JKU.AT