Marinella Senatore‘s Protest Bike, 2018, in now on view at the exhibition MANIFEST Yourself!, in Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin. The show retraces the development of (queer) feminist manifestos through a selection of public, often politically motivated statements issued by women*, trans and non-binary people in different contexts. These various feminisms have evolved from the white and academically influenced beginnings of the 1960s and 1970s towards an inter- sectional understanding: besides categories such as biological sex and gender identity, age or (dis)ability, and class or religious affiliation, experiences of discrimination caused by segregation, colonial power structures or late-capitalist work conditions are increasingly coming into focus. In parallel with the #MeToo movement, which in recent years has led many prominent women* to express their dissent collectively, Black Feminism has gained a noticeable presence in society as a whole, amplified since 2013 by the #BlackLivesMatter movement. The detrimental objectification of the natural environment is also increasingly reflected in feminist manifestos, as ecological awareness and criticism of predominantly male-coded destructive violence and hubris are gaining ground. At the same time, more and more influential statements by women*, trans and non-binary people are emerging in techno- and cyberspace – from cyborgs and technoid slime to Glitch Feminism.
Credits photo: David Brandt