Mourning as a Feminist Practice
Zine Workshop

With Xinan Pandan (artist, poet, educational consultant)

‘I can’t fully understand it yet, […] I want to embalm her so that she stays with me like a work of art.’
– Hanna Bekker vom Rath on her late mother.

There is little space for mourning in our society. Death is an omnipresent topic that affects us all. Yet there is little space created in this system to deal with the subject of death.

In a capitalist, patriarchal society, emotions are generally dismissed as weak. This also includes mourning. Anyone who has lost a loved one on Friday evening is still expected to be back in the office on Monday, doing their paid work. How can dealing with grief and, by extension, with one’s own emotions and those of others, be a feminist practice? And how can narratives of grief and trauma be reclaimed?

Xinan Pandan (no pronouns) is a poet, multimedia artist and community care bear. Xinan works from a queer, diasporic and neurodivergent perspective on oppression, depression, chronic illness, healing, trauma and building sustainable support systems of solidarity. Xinan dreams that we can build community so that everyone can get the safety, care and love they need.

This event is part of the series FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES, an intersectional, discursive accompanying programme curated by Sonja Eismann (editor of Missy Magazine) and Josephine Papke (author and journalist).

Due to the limited number of participants, please register here in advance. Public events are included in the admission fee. Meeting point: Ticket desk in the foyer.