We Mokhtalefs

The concept of a sexual identity did not exist in the Islamic world before the 19th century - nor did it have any idea of heteronormativity. But with the division of people in heterosexual and homosexual, Western societies brought the criminalization of the latter into the Islamic world. Many of the laws that still prohibit homosexuality in Islamic countries are not based on Islamic tradition but on British colonial law. The three-day focus WE MOKHTALEFS activates the repressed discourses on a queer Islam, reveals historical references, presents new aesthetics and cultural practices from Lebanon, Morocco and Pakistan / USA. In the collective space of thought and inspiration, approaches from academic activist work and artistic practices flow together to give Muslim traditions a queer and transpositive potential. The result is a living plea for a minority oppressed in many (not just Arab) societies, which is often denied or made invisible.

Programm Day 1 (03.10.2019)

from 19:00 QUEENS COLLECTIVE (Marokko) QUEERING KITCHEN (Installation) The QUEENS COLLECTIVE is a group of artists working together and running a community art space in Marrakech. At Kampnagel they’ll take a new perspective at the kitchen.

from 19:30 LEYLA JAGIELLA (University of Bayreuth) (Talk, approx. 60 Min. in German with English translation) Leyla Jagiella is ethnologist, religious scientist and research fellow at the Institute of Religious Studies with a focus on Islamic Contemporary Cultures of the University of Bayreuth (Germany). In her academic work she deals with discourses about heterodoxy and orthodoxy in the Islam of South and Southeast Asia and in particular with the significance of gender and sexuality in these discourses.

21:30 ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO / ANUM AWAN / HUSHIDAR MORTEZAIE (San Francisco) ALIF IS FOR AWAKENING (Performance, approx. 30 Min. in English) ALIF IS FOR AWAKENING tells the story of a fictitious revolution through the eyes of a zombie. Inspired by the historical and current political state of the Muslim world, Sufi mystic beliefs in the afterlife and theorie on post-humanity; the performance follows the resurrection of Faluda Islam, a drag queen turned guerrilla fighter during The Third Intifada, a global queer uprising that attempt/s/ed/ing to rid the Muslim world of western intervention, occupation and dictatorship. This multimedia performance merges together horror, storytelling, video projections and movement to ask what would The Third World look like If all those killed during the War on Terror were resurrected? Where do queer people exist in histories of anti-imperialist movements in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia and if we cannot find them, do we use our imagination to create them?

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (b. Damascus, 1990) is a visual artist, performer, curator and drag queen who goes by the alias Faluda Islam. Bhutto’s work explores complex histories of colonialism that are exacerbated by contemporary international politics and in the process unpacks the intersections of queerness and Islam through a multi-media practice. He has shown in galleries, museums and theaters globally, as well as spoken extensively on the intersections of faith, radical thought and futurity at Columbia University, UC Berkeley, The California College of the Arts and Mills College. Bhutto is currently based in California where he received an MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2016.

He created this work with the videographer Anum Awan who is an interaction designer and new media artist, who crafts mixed-reality experiences by blending physical and digital media based on queer, immigrant and non-western narratives. The costumes for this performance are by Hushidar Mortezaie.

from 22:00 OPENING PARTY

PROGRAMM DAY 2 (04.10.2019) klick herEPROGRAMM Day 3 (05.10.2019) klick herE

Full Programm:

Programm Day 1, 03.10. from 19:00 with installation by Queens Collective, talk with Leyla Jagiella (University of Beyreuth), performance by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

Programm Day 2, 04.10. from 19:00 with installation by Queens Collective, talk with Nuray Demir and Hengameh Yaghoobifarah and performance by Yousef Iskandar

Programm Day 3, 05.10. from 19:00 with installation by Queens Collective, talk with Sifaw and Reddad from Collectiv ASWAT and Salma Alaoui from Dynamique Trans* and performance by Kabareh Cheikhats from Casablanca

#KunstundDiskurs #PerformativesMagazin #Queerism #Queerislam