by Artistic Research PhD Candidates of the University of Applied Arts Vienna.
Supervisor: Bouchra Khalili
The performance lecture will add to the burgeoning field of counter-futurism globally and meditate on the intersection of speculative storytelling, autonomy, race, gender, spatiality, temporality and technology.
How can counter-futurism be conceived as an emancipatory field of thought, research and practice? Can a working definition of counter-futurism be situated in the context of decolonial and antiracist temporal imaginaries? The prefix “counter” foregrounds an oppositional stance to hegemonic and hierarchical discourses that perpetuate the dehumanization of marginalized communities. It is positioned in contrast to European futurist history that notoriously championed fascism, exclusionary nationalism, sexism and fetishized war and technological advancement. Through the lens of counter-futurism, we can reflect on the horrors of the past while we move towards harmonious futures.
Rah Eleh is a visual artist and a PhD candidate at die Angewandte (University of Applied Arts) in Vienna, Austria. Rah’s work has been exhibited extensively at the Venice Biennale (Palazzo Mora), National Museum of Norway, Nuit Blanche (Toronto), Williams College Museum of Art (Massachusetts), Miami Art Basel, The Juno Awards, Kunsthaus Graz Museum (Graz, Austria), Onassis Cultural Center (Athens, Greece), and Vögele Kultur Zentrum, (Switzerland). She has been awarded many grants and residencies including the Chalmers Arts Fellowship, SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship, ONX (NYC), Koumaria Residency (Greece), studio das weiße haus (Vienna) and the Artslant Georgia Fee Residency (Paris).