• Sat 07 03 2020 / 7 pm •
Exophony: Spelling Identity

with ALICE HASTERS, MANDHLA., ANJA SALEH, KAROSH TAHA
conceived and moderated by FATIMA KHAN

In recent years, in alternative spaces created by BIPoC (Black / Indigenous / People of Color), an exploration has taken place with often multilingual literary practices like spoken word and oral literature; practices which are still portrayed as unusual by the traditional literary establishment. This distinction or rather marginalization coincides with many forms of discrimination, which occur at the intersections of the identities of gender, sexuality, body type, nationality and ethnicity.

With a performance and a conversation, Exophony: Spelling Identity explores the diversity of the interweaving of (spoken) language, literature and identity. Mandhla., a performer based in Cologne and Berlin, opens the evening with a performance that merges vocals, spoken word, drag and voguing. In her artistic work she deals with the daily challenges that immigrant trans, femme and non-binary people must cope with in connection with themes of love, identity, sex and acceptance. Later in a conversation, Exophony: Spelling Identity brings together four cultural workers, who locate themselves in language-based practices: Alice Hasters, author of Was weiße Menschen nicht über Rassismus hören wollen, aber wissen sollten (What white people do not want to hear about racism, but should know), published in 2019, and co-creator with Maximiliane Häcke of the podcast Feuer & Brot (Fire & Bread); Karosh Taha, author of the 2018 novel Beschreibung einer Krabbenwanderung (Descriptions of a crab migration); and Anja Saleh, who composes poetry and prose. Bringing this group of practitioners together is Fatima Khan, who is the moderator of the conversation, a literary critic and a co-founder and former team member of the queer feminist project q[lit]*clgn.

Exophony: Spelling Identity, Akademie der Künste der Welt (ADKDW), 2020 | Photos: Katja Illner

Box Office: 6:00 pm
Doors: 6:30 pm
Start: 7:00 pm
Languages: English | German
Venue: Alte Feuerwache Köln, Halle, Melchiorstr. 3, 50670 Cologne
Tickets: 12€ | 6€ (regular | reduced)

Exophony: Spelling Identity is a part of the Exophony: program, which explores the processes of writing, reading and listening, manipulations of and through language as well as interaction and communication. There is a particular focus on experiences of and with multilingualism, translation and translatability. Exophony: offers the opportunity to collectively rethink communication structures and language practices and to explore the diversity and simultaneity of a shared language landscape.

The program series Exophony: is funded by Kunststiftung NRW.