The working group “Decolonial Aesthetics” takes up questions of the aesthetic construction of theory in the context of anticolonialism, postcoloniality and decoloniality, and it examines decolonial aesthetic strategies in artistic productions from the areas of photography, film, theater, contemporary drama, performance, art, music, video, and the fine arts. The working group will curate Issue #8 of wissenderkuenste.de, the online publication of the DFG Research Training Group “Knowledge in the Arts” at the Berlin University of the Arts. This issue will focus on different art practices as decolonial strategies dealing with knowledge formations, positions and archives.

We seek contributions that engage aesthetic processes of remembering in order to reflect on present moments or open these up to the future. On the one hand, we are asking for forms of engagement with different bodies of knowledge and their aesthetic treatment in contemporary art production that demonstrate decolonial deferrals. How can artistic practices in performance, film, photography, and other media disrupt colonial power relations? How do the forms, means, and strategies of these various arts and artistic positions differ from each other?

And on the other hand, the intention is to critically examine archiving as an aesthetic practice in terms of decolonial politics. Which aesthetics of archiving have a decolonializing effect within formations of knowledge? What remains of the colonial archive when the aesthetics of ephemeral objects become part of bodies of knowledge? How do such aesthetics enable decolonial (knowledge) policies or archives?

In addition to scholarly contributions (maxiumum 25,000 characters), we especially welcome contributions that experiment with various forms of representation in different media (sketches, sound, video, photo essays, interviews, etc.).

Deadline: 20.06.2018

Editorial Team: Grit Köppen, Maja Figge, Katrin Köppert, Juana Awad

Please send your submission in German or English to: Alicja Schindler (al.schindler_ @udk-berlin.de).