Katharina Schlieben. Self - Organisation

Self-organised minorities between empowerment and negotiation

in a neo-colonial globalised society.

An archive, screening and discussion format

I would like to propose a selection of films, documentaries and videos

(contemporary and older ones) reflecting and discussing self-organised forms,

initiatives and  fights in-between the dynamics of a neo-colonial

globalised society. I am interested in the way political, cultural and

regional minorities communicate their aims and rights, which forms of

negotiations and which direct as well as subversive strategies of resistance

are used. Individual and personal as well as collective perspectives from

different geo-political contexts are brought together.

Political representation, processes of manipulating and of negotiations

are often overlapping: Post-colonial structures, colonial practices, logics

of the neo-liberal markets and economy, fights for independence and

resistance, experiences of  suppression, emancipatory movements and forms of

empowerment are confronted with each other and create conflictual zones. Who

shows solidarity to whom, who communicates with whom? Conflicts of interests

are based on different motivations in regional and global movements and dynamics and

address and question at the same time the status quo of authority – leading into the question  who determines the legal and illegal? Very often minorities are results of

capitalistic and neo-colonial exploitation (using resources and cheap

labour). How are minorities able to self-organise a standing that saves

their rights and guarantee a certain autonomy. Processes of communication

involve translation processes between federal authorities and minor

communities: How do forms of agreement look like, or are they rather

based  on manipulative misunderstandings? Which kind of negotiation could be

defined as political?

Some of the films are proposing self-organised forms and put the social

collective movements in the centre. Filmmakers are working in many cases

very closely with  NGOs, working on case studies on site and in context. On

a broader context - in connection to the films - I  am interested in

discussing social-engaged art practices. How are they able to touch the real

and to achieve efficient and sustainable comments. How do strategies of

documentation and artistic practices merge, how can they learn from each

other.

I could imagine a kind of film series that consists of three steps or parts:

-     1. Before the Workshop:

An archive of films will be put together by myself. Further through an Open Call

all participants of the  workshop are invited to suggest a film and to bring a film with them to the workshop to build up a small archive.

-     2. During the Workshop:

A screening series in the evenings during our stay at the farm could lead to

further discussions. We could select a number of films to show publicly in

Sao Paulo

-     3. Sao Paulo Presentations:

public film screenings in  an informal set (on the street, in the gallery

space, etc) open  to everyone who is interested.