Striking the border. Migratory Aesthetics & Counter Public Spheres
Elisa R. Linn
Institute of Arts and Society, Art and Knowledge Transfer
2025W, scientific seminar (SEW), 4.0 ECTS, 2.0 semester hours, course number S05683
Description
The seminar takes place in conjunction with the exhibitionerkleidete Distanzen: migratory aesthetics and counter-public spheres in the gdr curated by Elisa R. Linn, on view at the University Gallery of the Angewandte from October 16, 2025, to January 31, 2026: wird: https://universitaetsgalerie.dieangewandte.at/events/verkleidete-distanzen/#
Drawing on Linn’s research on the “Berlin Wall as Condom,” both the exhibition and seminar explore how borders shape the emergence of counter-publics at the intersection of art, literature, and activism in the GDR. How did artists and cultural producers in the GDR, particularly during the AIDS crisis, develop a “border thinking” (Gloria Anzaldúa and Walter Mignolo)—a mode of thinking at and about the boundary between ideologies, languages, identities, and normative notions of the body, sexuality, and citizenship? And how did this way of thinking enable them to evade the architectures of state representation and subjectivation, as well as the “scissors in the head,” a form of internal self-censorship? What impulses do these practices offer for today’s confrontations with nativism and border regimes?
The exhibition provides the discursive framework for the seminar and invites participants to engage directly with its contributions through readings, analysis, and activation. These include films by Gabriele Stötzer and the feminist performance group Exterra XX, photographs by Geraldo Paunde, texts by Christa Wolf, Ronald M. Schernikau, Sarah Schulman, and Bärbel Bohley, poetry by Jayne-Ann Igel and Raja Lubinetzki, as well as song lyrics by the GDR punk band Namenlos.
Examination Modalities
- Presence (max. 2 missed units)
- Active participation in discussions, examination of readings and analysis of works (en/de)
- Oral presentation about an artistic position in the exhibition (en/de)
Comments
Languages of the course / its materials will be in English and German.
Key Words
DDR, gegenöffentliche Kunst, dekoloniale Praxis, Migration, ästhetische Strategien, Grenzen, Grenzdenken
Dates
Wed, 15 October 2025, 18:00–20:00 Exhibition opening at Sala Terrena, Heiligenkreuzerhof, access via Schönlaterngasse 5 / Grashofgasse 3, 1010 Vienna. , "The Sala Terrena is located on the ground floor; the entrance is to the right of Stiege 7."
Tue, 04 November 2025, 14:00–16:00 Seminar Room 27
Wed, 05 November 2025, 10:00–13:00 Seminar Room 27
Tue, 02 December 2025, 14:00–16:00 Seminar Room 26
Wed, 03 December 2025, 14:00–16:00 Seminar Room 27
Tue, 20 January 2026, 14:00–16:00 Seminar Room 34
Wed, 21 January 2026, 10:00–13:00 Seminar Room 33
Course Enrolment
From 01 September 2025, 09:00 to 12 October 2025, 11:11
Via online registration
Curriculum Allocation
Art Education: subject kkp (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 067/003.80
Art Education: subject kkp (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 067/003.80
Art Education: subject kkp (Enhancements study): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 067/003.80
Art Education: subject tex (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 071/003.80
Art Education: subject dae (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 072/003.80
Art Education: subject dex (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 074/003.80
Art Education: subject dex (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 074/003.80
Art Education: subject dex (Enhancements study): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 074/003.80
TransArts - Transdisciplinary Arts (Bachelor): Theoretical foundations: Theoretical foundations 180/003.01
Expanded Museum Studies (Master): Electives: Art & Knowledge Transfer 537/080.26
Stage Design (2. Section): Kunsttheorie und Kulturwissenschaften: Kunst- und Wissenstransfer 542/207.05
Media Arts: Specialisation in Transmedia Arts (2. Section): Wissenschaft, Theorie und Geschichte : Kunst- und Wissenstransfer 566/208.14
Media Arts: Specialisation in Digital Arts (2. Section): Wissenschaft, Theorie, Geschichte: Kunst- und Wissenstransfer 567/208.14
Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften (Master): Electives Area 2: Art and Knowledge Transfer 568/006.19
Design: Specialisation in Design and Narrative Media (2. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Fundamentals: Humanities 576/203.02
Design: Specialisation in Communication Design (2. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Basics: Humanities 577/203.02
Fine Arts (2. Section): Scientific and Research Practice: Media Theory,Art&Knowledge Transfer,Th. of Architecture,Th. and Hist. of Design 605/202.02
Fine Arts (2. Section): Scientific and Research Practice: Free Electives out of Scientific and Research Practice 605/202.80
Design: Specialisation in Applied Photography and Time-based Media (2. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Basics: Humanities 626/203.02
Cross-Disciplinary Strategies (Bachelor): Artistic Strategies and Approaches to Art: Deepening and Application 700/001.20
Co-registration: possible
Attending individual courses: possible