Naghmeh Samini
María Galindo and Cristina Morales
‘Jin, Jîyan, Azadî’ – Woman, Life, Freedom!
That was the slogan under which the protests against the patriarchal-repressive system began to form following the death in police custody of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Jina Mahsa Amini in September 2022. The resistance shown by women in Iran became a global beacon of hope that shone brightly for a different future. This year, on three separate evenings, the Wiener Festwochen have invited internationally renowned female authors whose writings explore possible paths towards that future. In her auto-fictional trilogy of novels Nervous Conditions – The Book of Not – This Mournable Body, Tsitsi Dangarembga, who was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 2021, will talk about the struggles for self-determination and freedom of a Black woman growing up in Zimbabwe. Her volume of essays Black and Female, which has just been published in German, examines the political situation, the position of women, and the conditions of her own writing in a postcolonial society. María Galindo, for her part, is one of the best-known feminists in Latin America. In her texts (among others Bastard Feminism and You cannot decolonize without depatriarchalizing) the journalist, graffiti artist, film maker and poet posited the theory of bastardismo. And in direct reference to its methodology, Spanish author and dancer Cristina Morales wrote her sensational novel Easy Reading, which undermines all forms of paternalism towards people with disabilities. The novel itself was awarded the HKW International Literature Prize. Naghmeh Samini is the author of the play The Child, which can also be seen at this year’s Wiener Festwochen. In her work as playwright, screenwriter and academic, she examines the history and conditions of female resistance in Iran.
14 May, 6pm Tsitsi Dangarembga
In her auto-fictional trilogy of novels Nervous Conditions – The Book of Not – This Mournable Body, Tsitsi Dangarembga, who was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 2021, writes about the struggle for self-determination of a Black woman growing up in Zimbabwe. Dangarembga, herself an active promoter of women in the film industry, was given a six-month suspended sentence in 2022 for taking part in a pro-democracy rally. In conversation with Rémi Armand Tchokothe she will talk about her absolute determination to fight for freedom of expression: ‘I always think of language as action, and action always has an impact.’
Venue Odeon
Language English
Moderation Rémi Armand Tchokothe5 June, 6pm* Naghmeh Samini
Naghmeh Samini is the author of the play The Child, which can also be seen at this year’s Wiener Festwochen. Her dramatic plays have been performed in Iran, France, India, Canada and the US, among other countries. Her play The King and the Mathematician: A Legend (2012) was named one of the cultural achievements of the year by UNESCO. In her lecture, Samini – speaking from the perspective of a writing woman – dives into the history of protests and resistance by women in Iran. Following the lecture, she will be joined by journalist Solmaz Khorsand as they reflect on the role of artistic expression in light of the current resistance struggles in Iran.
Venue Halle G, MuseumsQuartier
Language English
Moderation Solmaz Khorsand*Admission free with a ticket for the performance of Das Kind on 5 June.
7 June, 6pm María Galindo and Cristina Morales
Lo bastardo
María Galindo and Cristina Morales accompanied by Beatriz AcitoresIn her artistic, journalistic and activist practice, Bolivian anarcho-feminist María Galindo works on subverting patriarchal and colonial systems of power in ways that are both entertaining and provocative. For Cristina Morales, one of the most prominent younger voices in Spanish literature, Galindo’s theory of bastardismo provided the conceptual starting point for her novel Easy Reading. In the novel, four women with disabilities sharing a state-subsidised flat in Barcelona assert themselves in their resistance to the patronising strategies of mainstream society. At the invitation of the Wiener Festwochen, Galindo and Morales are joined by dancer Beatriz Acitores to present a performative-discursive evening opposed to all normative ideas of purification.
Venue Schauspielhaus Wien
Language Spanish with german translation
