Photo by: Kudzanai Chiurai
Friday, 18 January 2019 from 14:00–17:00, Kalmar konstmuseum.
WHAT?
Our workshop ‘Positive Obsession’ is a writing workshop which engages with our current exhibition ‘Madness and Civilization’. A short guided tour will be followed by a writing workshop where participants will use the works from the exhibition in order to write fiction. The writing workshop will be led by Cassandra Troyan, Senior Lecturer & Programme Coordinator for Visual Communication + Change at Linneaus University, and Zeenath Hasan, Senior Lecturer & Programme Coordinator for Design Masters at Linnaeus University.
HOW?
How does history shape us in terms of culture, place, and time? How can we develop new ways for exploring alternative narratives of history? Could this also change our perception of the past and who is involved in its construction? In this workshop, we will use speculative fiction as a tool to both reproduce and resist our beliefs in our pasts and presents.
We will write using the perspective of the hyper-empathic Lauren Oya Olamina, protagonist in the 1993 sci fi novel ‘Parable of the Sower’ by African-American writer Octavia Butler. Possessing the ability to feel pain twice over, both her own and of those she witnesses, Olamina lives in a society awash with wealth inequality and climate change.
Participants are expected to read ‘Parable of the Sower’ in its entirety. The book is written in the form of a journal by the protagonist. At the writing workshop we will write from first and third person perspectives.
WHERE, COSTS, SIGN UP?
The workshop will take place in the exhibition room itself at Kalmar konstmuseum. Entrance and participation is free, but spaces are limited. All participants should acquire Octavia Butler’s novel themselves and bring their own writing material. Coffee, tea and snacks will be provided by Kalmar konstmuseum. Please sign-up via info@kalmarkonstmuseum.se. A name and a enthusiastic note will do!
ENGLISH?
Yes, the workshop will be in English. But keep in mind that the workshop is a safe space where mutual respect has priority. We also do not expect you to be the next Astrid Lindgren, Toni Morrison or Chinua Achebe. This is going to be about art, text and empathy.