Grazer Kunstverein moves to the city library Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński
28.2.2020, 6pm
Stadtbibliothek Zanklhof, Kernstockgasse 2, 8020 Graz
(Gries)
Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński is an artist, art-based researcher, and writer, with a practice grounded in Black feminist theory, and an overarching interest in the past-present-future of Black radical imagination. Her ongoing project Library of Requests addresses gaps in collections of books in various library settings, and redresses these gaps by inviting a plurality of voices to highlight what is missing within a given inventory. Questioning the role of the Kunstverein, and that of a library, by looking at our ongoing relationship to knowledge production and distribution, Kazeem-Kamiński convenes a collective reading in the City Library.
As part of this event Kazeem-Kamiński has compiled the Library of Requests #5, made up of books that speak about the past in the present, books that call attention to residues of colonial violence in the German speaking context, and books that highlight Black artists and Artists of Colour from various contexts, with the aim of continuing to challenge amnesia about colonialism. This collection of books will be acquired and added to the Grazer Kunstverein’s ever-expanding library of books (The Members Library, the Elisabeth Printschitz Library, the Ernst Fischer Library and now, the Library of Requests #5). The books will be available throughout the year in the Depot exhibition and workspace, for visitors to peruse and borrow. More books will be added upon request and in collaboration with the artist. Selected titles include:
Plantation Memories: Episodes of Everyday Racism, Grada Kilomba, 2008/2018.
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, Robin DiAngelo, 2018.
Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński (b. 1980) lives and works in Vienna. She is currently a candidate for the PhD program at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński participated in exhibitions in Vienna, Venice, Klagenfurt and Oxford. Her film work has been shown at international festivals in Vancouver, Osnabrück, Graz, Rotterdam, Dortmund, Cologne and Kassel. In 2018 she received the Cathrin Pichler Prize from the Academy of Fine Arts, in 2017 the Gemma scholarship and in 2016 the Theodor Körner Prize.
In connection to our feasibility study Grazer Kunstverein is moving!, we were recurring guests on Favour Moriba’s show What’s the matter on Saturdays from 7–8pm on Radio Helsinki (92,6 MHz) to discuss questions around what it means to move Grazer Kunstverein to a radio station or how art can be perceived through an audio format. We took Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński's Library of Requests from the project Grazer Kunstverein is moving to the city library! as a basis and discussed some selected books and their topics.
On 20 February, we introduced our ongoing project Grazer Kunstverein is moving! and filled the listeners in on what will be happening in the following sessions.
On 27 February, we discussed Grada Kilomba’s book Plantation Memories: Episodes of Everyday Racism from 2008. This conversation was informed by Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński’s project Library of Requests, which was part of Grazer Kunstverein is moving to the city library in February 2020.
On 6 March, we spoke about artistic positions and of black female artists, based on Natasha A. Kelly's book Millis Erwachen. Schwarze Frauen, Kunst und Widerstand/Milli's Awakening. Black Women, Art and Resistance.
On 13 March, the discussion about art and culture of black female artists continued. How much have the experiences of black women in the white majority society shaped their art? Where do these women stand today, what voice can art give them? And can black female artists empower themselves and assert themselves or how does art activity support them?
On 20 March, we asked ourselves why it is so hard for white people to confront their own racist thoughts and how these can be mastered. The book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo is the basis for that.
