Collective Joy In Resistance

Community-based protest

Idea and concept: Susana Ojeda
With: Andrea Ancira García, Bita Bell, Luan Dannerbauer, Olivia Golde, Zoe Gudović, Nina Sandino, Laura Garcia Sobreira and Afro Rainbow Austria

Workshops:
17.2. 16-20 hrs
13.4. | 11.5. | 7.9. each 15-19 hrs

Venues: SOHO STUDIOS and public space
Participation: Please register at info@sohostudios.at

We want to encourage the development of new possibilities for social protest through radical imagination and shared care. The year 2024 will be characterized by major political discussions on climate justice and the rise of the far right in Europe. In the midst of this scenario of political upheaval, we are creating a space for joyful activism to co-create innovative forms of protest and affirm alternative ways of living.
We invite different activist groups and all those who want to build on generosity, tenderness and care. When the system aims to turn us into sad consumers, we will rise up, dance, sing and be strong together.

Each gathering is dedicated to community building and promotes collective activism, working joyfully and creatively with the means of dance, music, textile art and graphic & design on the topics of climate justice and the social aspects of climate protection and democracy.

• Coming together to prepare graphics and visual material
• Coming together to politicize our favorite dances
• Coming together to decolonize our bodies through dance
• Coming together to design our costumes for resistance through joy
• Coming together to politicize cooking and eating together

Susana Ojeda, anthropologist, filmmaker, and activist, explores decolonial and eco-feminist themes, delving into connections with more-than-human beings and honoring ancestral knowledge through short films, installations, and readings. As a feminist decolonial activist and co-president of the Austrian Association of Women Artists (VBKÖ) since 2023, she actively intertwines art and activism.

Andrea Ancira García, editor, writer, and researcher, explores the intersections of art and politics, focusing on translation’s role in shaping communal perspectives on life and memory. Co-creator of tumbalacasa ediciones, she investigates archives’ affective economies in generating alternative narratives. A fellow of Jumex Contemporary Art Foundation, she is a current PhD Candidate at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.

Bita Bell is a dance artist and composer with a BA in music composition and a MFA in dance. Her artistic-activism is reflected in her work as a community organizer and teacher; such as leading the monthly BIPOC only contact improv jams in Vienna. She is currently in the 5th cohort of the THIRD Artistic Research program at DAS Graduate School in Amsterdam University of the Arts.

Luan Dannerbauer (no pronouns) has been writing, illustrating and crafting in Vienna since 2018. Luan studies art and cultural studies at the Academy of Fine Arts and the University of Vienna and deals with forms of design in print media as a resistant practice.

Olivia Golde is a writer who loves to makes zines. she experiments with DIY and non-profit-forms of publishing. since 2015 she is part of the collective ‘PS – Politisch Schreiben’, a network and a literary magazine. Currently she lives in vienna and studies at the academy of fine arts.

Zoe Gudović, born 1977 in Belgrade, explores space, body, and voice through art. Her Toilet installations question intimacy, borders, and violence. As Drag King – Zed Zeldić Zed, she tackles the representation of queer bodies. In her show Ženergija on Radio Orange, she amplifies voices from the margins, documenting social change. A lesbian artist, feminist, and culture manager, she navigates the art world, focusing on class issues. Based in Vienna since October 2021.

Nina Sandino (she/they) is a Nicaraguan Architect and movement Artivist. Their practice focuses on Afro indigenous queer futurism and the transmission of ancestral communal knowledge. Working for holistic resistance, where rest, pleasure and joy work as radical tools for personal and collective empowerment.

Laura Garcia Sobreira, MMag., studied conducting at the University of Rio de Janeiro and guitar with Odair Assad at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. She conducted the first Brazilian guitar orchestra, an electric guitar orchestra in Rio de Janeiro, and ensembles like “Chiquinha Gonzaga.” Advocating for women composers, she actively fights patriarchal violence against women as an activist in StoP (Stadtteil ohne Partner Gewalt).

Afro Rainbow Austria (ARA)
Afro Rainbow Austria, an Organisation founded by and for queer people of African descent in Austria, aimed at establishing an inclusive and interactive platform.
ARA stopNchop plays a crucial role in recognizing the intricate connections between food, community, cuisine, and culture. One of our primary focus is on safeguarding the culinary heritage of the African Community, aligning with Afro Rainbow Austria’s commitment to creating and maintaining safe spaces for queer Africans in Austria. Using food as a vital tool, we engage in communal practices that involve coming together for celebrations, educational activities, meditation, grief processing, and simultaneous healing.