Projektbeschreibung
In May 2025 Kampnagel will stage the next edition of its “Performative Book Fair” series which debuted in 2023. In contrast to conventional book fairs, the programme features accessible presentations and innovative performance and discussion events. The decidedly alternative format takes issue with capitalistic sales-driven logic and the outsized significance of the literary canon. With this project, the organisers strive to promote artistic and literary exchange with the greatest degree of heterogeneity possible. To be included in the Performative Book Fair, all events must be designed to be non-discriminatory, accessible and sensitive to diversity.
The programme focuses on marginalised positions: literary artists, poets and knowledge producers who are seldom represented at conventional book fairs. The participants are invited to discuss aesthetic forms, using the medium of text to cross boundaries, as well as social exclusion, fair working conditions and funding structures. The aim is to reflect on and combat discriminatory practices in the literary sector, and to support and protect authors and publishers on the periphery.
The theme of the event is translation – from one language and one worldview to another. The programme aims to loosen constraints on discussion and reject the notion of reducing literature to the medium of paper. For example, poetry will be presented in sign language – a form which is afforded little visibility in international literary reception. The participants will also discuss who should translate which texts from one language into another, and what collective translation processes could look like.
Artistic direction: Pajam Masoumi, Alina Buchberger
Participants: Rebecca Sanchez, Sharon Dodua Otoo, Mara Mills, Jo Landt, Sarah Fartuun Heinze, Christiane Frohmann, Maha El Hissy, Ama Josephine Budge, Millicent Adjei, Natali Bhalchandra Abhyankar
Book fair: Kampnagel / Fasiathek, Hamburg: 14–18 May 2025
Discussion and reading series: Kampnagel, Hamburg: 13 Jan. – 30 Jun. 2025