“Women Chopping Wood” at Alexanderplatz

As I am working near Alexanderplatz I coincidentally ran into a live installation by choreographer Dorte Olesen, taking place at
Alexanderplatz on 29, 30 Jun and 1 July.

To my surprise the Alexanderplatz was filled with women between the ages of 50 and 90 sawing, chopping and stacking wood, accompanied by a loud noisy sound of motor saws and chopping sounds, that where taped in action, amplified and transmitted via audio boxes.

I was totally overwhelmed by this whole performance and thought it was about the coolest thing I’ve seen on Alexanderplatz so far. Reading a leaflet, informing me this was “A manifestation of female strength and community feeling, of making the countryside visible in the city and depicting/ demonstrating the physical strength needed to generate energy.” I got a bit confused, but still, the words “physical strength” and “energy” where matching the scene in front of me.

“15 Swedish women will travel to Berlin to meet a group of German women. They will have three days to complete their task: transforming 30 cubic metres of logs into imaginative woodpiles. The challenge includes co-operation, communication and getting to know one another across language and national barriers.”, so the leaflet said. Wow, this was an international feminist summer camp!  The women worked together, got to know each other, gossiped together, took photographs of each other. Everything proceeded as if the women weren’t being watched by an irritated crowd of “Saturn”- or “Kaufhof”- shoppers or business workers on lunch break.

The reactions were diverse, but mostly divided by gender; while most female spectators were first a bit shy and hesitating  but then seemed to enjoy the whole athmosphere, laughed and made eyecontact with the women, most men were immediately attracted to the scene, looked very curious and fascinated, but then their curiousity turned into seemingly unsettling irritation. “Why are these women doing this?” “Was soll das?” I saw some men shaking their heads. Groups of men were making jokes, but just to distance themselves.

I took some photographs and a film with my mobile phone.

women chopping wood

women chopping wood 2

women chopping wood, men looking at them

axtwerfen

International Women´s Day

Everything looks pritty normal. It is sunday the 8th of march, International Womens Day and somewhere in Berlin there are some events, a demonstration, in some places some discussions, in others presentations on feminism  – somewhere and everybody tries to talk everything. In one small place there is a presentation on feminism in Iran and quite some people are coming to join the presentation, waiting interested to get an idea about the topic, because most of the audience does ever really got in contact with iranian feminism, me neither.

The girl that is presenting, a young german student that got in contact with the topic during her studies, starts to talk and I am loosing myself very soon in the flow of facts, numbers and quotes. The presentation seems to have a very loose concept and the understanding of feminism of the presenter does not become clear to me until the end. I start to ask myself, how much sense it makes just to let somebody presenting something and not to take a closer look on the person, the topic or to involve more people. The association of Iranian refugees has its office just nearly around the corner. They do have a group for women, … would it not be possible to find something more profound at the topic? People are talking about, that they really want to know something more about iranian feminism, but why nobody ever tried to get some knowledge. Most of the people in that room, i suppose, would describe themselve as openminded, feminists, antiracists, but how comes that we are all sitting in the most “mixed” quarter of Berlin, and listen to a german young girl, that never ever went to Iran, does not speak Persian and got her knowledge by reading some books and the Internet and has even no clear definition of her understanding of feminism? It is good that she is interested, that she propably wrote a paper about what she is presenting now – I do not want to devaluate her interest and work. I am just wondering what is happening and why obviously, the organizers of the event did not came up with the idea, to invite some Iranian feminists, for producing a wider picture and different perspectives. It should not be hard to find somebody – not in the melting pot of Berlin.

After an hour presentation people start to discuss about something, that the majority does not know. Because of the leck of knowledge conected with the fear of critizising the Islam to much, it becomes a very shapeless exchange of some vague ideas – until three, probably Iranians in Exile, enter the room. I feel that something strange is happening with me, because I give them a certain authority that allows them,  to say things, that would trouble me, if it would be said by somebody, whos native language is german and would not come from an islamic country. Trying to explain their point of view one of them is getting polemic. That offers me the possibility to get slowly back to my critical eyes. He claims that islamic feminism is a contradiction itself and cannot exist. The religion will never allow a woman to be equal among equals, because it would go against its theological ideas.  Those who claim, he argues, to offer a critical reading of the Quran, a feminist way of interpretation are false and just an instrument of religious leaders, to show the “western world” that the Islam is a modern religion where female can engage in female rights. Shortly said, islamic feminism cannot and does not exist. But, what happens when we just ignore, the movement, that labels itself as islamic feminism? It is part of reality in Iranian feminisms, whatever people think about, and other iranian feminist groups have to face this reality as well and if there would be a real interest to get an idea of the situation we cannot just watch what fits us. It is just possible to critize what we do know.

It could have become a very lively and inspiring discussion, but the ditch of knowledge could not have be overcome during such a short time. The discussion went on at two totally different levels and ended up more in the try to convince people, that missed the first step of gaining knowledge on the topic, directly of the right position. An absurd situation at the International Womens Day 2009 in Berlin, where I came to the conclussion that I have to ask myself, how far I am of fulfilling my aim, to care about my surrounding and to take into my feminist political thinking the reality I am living in. Well some could now say, that we cannot know everything, but migrants, islam and islamic feminism is far from being just a topic at the edge of my neighbourhood, but still it is possible that at a meeting of maybe 25 critical, left, feminist germans in Neukölln, nearly nobody is actually so familiar with the topic to take part in a qualified and critical disscussion.

Short interview with activists from the Queer Festival in BIH

 In September the first Queer festival in Sarajevo was supposed to take place, but it was not possible to realize the planed festival, because the opening was disturbed/interrupted by violent excesses against participants of the festival. Afterwards media published names of the Sarajevan activists and at the end it was not even possible to realize some actions in a private circle, because activists, artists and participants were attacked by opposers. The following short interview should give you an overview about the situation for the activists after the festival and on the impacts of it.

 

How you would describe the attitude towards queers or homosexuals in the Bosnian society before, the antipathy of hooligans and conservative religious circles was shown that open?

It was never easy – homophobia existed before the Festival as well, just few weeks before the opening two of our friends were attacked in one night club because they were ‘visible’ , meaning kissing each other. But, the Festival was the first huge public event that we have organized, and it was expected that it won’t go so easy. But, we did not expect it to be so violent. Religious circles sure have had huge impact, since they often serve as ‘coverage’ for many nationalistic, populist, and violent acts in these countries.

 

Do you feel a change in the attitude? How is it expressed?

Positive and negative – although the Festival attracted negative vibes, it also showed us how much people there is in Sarajevo who do recognize the genuine meaning of freedom, human rights and equality. Many of them stood up, not only in supporting queer community in BiH, but they also recognized that we had to defend secular principles in this state. That, I think, is the biggest value of the first QSF.

 

What influence, do you think, this happenings have at the attitude of the politicians?

The politicians simply demonstrated complete ignorance and the best of their own stupidity through their homophobic, xenophobic, nationalistic statements. But, all of these are kept in our archive, transcribed and translated to English, so that the whole Europe and international organizations might hear what their colleagues actually think and do in Bosnia.

 

What consequences all this had for your work concerning international attention but also acknowledgment? Shortly after the attack and demonstration a lot of international organizations and also newspapers watched Sarajevo and how things develop. Did this situation last longer than for the first amazement?

The attention was there, Council of Europe stated condemnation of the violence, and urged BH to stop discrimination against LGBTIQ persons. But, we expect much more of their support for the next Festival, primarily pressures on the local politicians in order for them to do everything to prevent violence.

 

Shortly after the opening of the festival, some of your group were threatened. How the situation is now, what changed in your practical work, are you confronted with more openly threats by the groups, named before now?

Yes and no – since the Festival, we did not organize anything public, so we will see what will happen when we do

 

How the attitude in the group of activists change because of this big backlash?

We got support and even one new anarchy activist group was formed, partially inspired by the QSF – that’s a huge compliment for us. As for the community, we managed to re-establish the forum as our main channel for communication and now we’re in the process of gathering people, developing strategies for the future.

 

What would be needed to realize a new volume of the festival, maybe next year?

We’re not giving up – the next Festival will be organized at the same time, same place. We’ll work more on our pr strategy this time, and definitely learn a lot from the first one. At this moment, we’re thinking about the new organizational structure and program. See you there! 

 

Thanks!

Just another evening

Two young people are sitting in a Bar, late at the evening, somewhere in Neukölln. It is one of those new, so called alternative Bars in Neukölln (a quarter of Berlin, known as an imigrant quarter, where more and more young “alternative” people settle down and with them, Bars, art collectives, etc.). The Bar is quite nice, you can feel home pritty easy…therefore it does not need a lot of time until the conversation between the two young people becomes very personal, trying to figure out what does it mean not to define gender, to live in the small space inbetween, not willing to define sex or gender. They get very fast to the point that is nearly impossible to live this identy, because the definition is always wanted and put on you like a stamp at your front – straigth, lesbian, gay, woman, man…, with a clear image of each category …

While talking two other young girls enter the small bar. Theay sit down at the next table and also this conversation gets somehow personal. The conversation of the girls turns very fast into gossiping about friends and aquaintances and about some gays they do know. They do “love it so much, how female all those gays behave, they are just so cute and funny…” big laughter from their side “you know, he is just so gay, so faggy” laughter. Both of them seem to know very well, what should be the apropiate male behaviour and that “all those gays, just are so nice because of being so girlish, they are just not such real man” laughter. It sounds like a conversation about a new cute pet of a small child.

But sure, just another evening in Berlin.

Misja Brunhilda

I recently discovered the short movie “Misja Brunhilda” by Queer Misja collective from Warszawa, which I highly recommend! It’s a clever appropriation and queer reading of the polish sexploitation science fiction movie “sexmisja” from 1984. Storyline: Two male volunteers for a refreezing experiment are revived several years in the future, in a world with only women which is run by the League of Women’s Lib, which is depicted as cruel and manhating etc., but at the end the two men manage to make their gards fall in love with them and they regain power. So basically a heteronormative, misagonyst movie. “Misja Brunhilda” turns things upside down, adressing heteronormativity in a very intelligent and funny way, making a gay couple out of the two men, kept in prison for refusing to take heteronormativity pills, but soon to be rescued by the mouse Brunhilda, special force agent of the queer “decadencja” movement. watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmOaRXHP-Rg

Red Dawns festival is looking for submissions

The feminist and queer festival Rdece Zore (Red Dawns) will happen around the 8 of march 2009 in Ljubljana, Slovenia for the 10th time. The organizers are still looking for people that want to join the group and support the festival! If you are interested in participating or to get some information how to visit the festival watch the webpage and the call for submissions: http://www.kudmreza.org/rdece/

The Red Dawns festival is a lively and colourfull festival with a lot of different participants and visitors. The atmosphere at the festival is quite familiar, but in the same time, it connects not only activists from former yugoslavia, but from all over “europe” – a good conecting point for artists, activists and people just interested in the topic of feminism and queer and at the end of each day, a place for great parties with sometimes really amazing acts!

Fotos

Ladyfest.

foto: Božena Miežonis

foto: Stepanova