Solidarity Program

On Saturday evening, a solidarity program will be held in Kraftcentralen as part of the festival's commitment to create space for discussion, learning, caring, solidarity, and activism alongside the sonic, visual, and performance arts which constitute the core of our program. It will feature a presentation by Wassim Z. Alsindi connecting contemporary colonialism to the medieval Crusades, a screening of the documentary Spaces of Exception (dir. Matt Peterson and Malek Rasamny) and a discussion on solidarity, resilience and resistence.

Program points:

The Chain Mail Gaze by Wassim Z. Alsindi (PhD)

British Iraqi scholar Wassim Z. Alsindi (PhD) will hold an introductory presentation on his forthcoming book The Chain Mail Gaze, connecting contemporary colonialism to the medieval Crusades.

Wassim is the founder and creative director of the 0xSalon, which conducts experiments in post-disciplinary collective knowledge practices. A veteran of the timechain, Wassim specialises in conceptual design and philosophy of peer-to-peer systems, on which he writes, speaks, teaches, and consults. Wassim has curated arts festivals, led a sculptural engineering laboratory and published experimental music, satirical theatre, fiction, games, poetry, and speculative scripture. Wassim holds a Ph.D. in ultrafast supramolecular photophysics from the University of Nottingham. https://wassim.pubpub.org

Screening: Spaces of Exception (dir. Matt Peterson and Malek Rasamny)

Spaces of Exception is a documentary film that profiles the terrains of the Indian reservation and the Palestinian refugee camp, “spaces of exception” that have become essential in the struggle for decolonization and indigenous autonomy.

Shot between 2014 to 2017, the film observes and juxtaposes the communities and struggles of the American Indian reservation and the Palestinian refugee camp. It visits reservations in Arizona, New Mexico, New York, and South Dakota, as well camps in Lebanon and the West Bank, “places defined by their historical and spiritual resistance” in order to “understand the conditions for life, community, and sovereignty.” While the histories are distinct, dispossession and loss unite these communities in solidarity, and the alternating stories highlight both their unique tragedies and their revolutionary commonalities. Mostly eschewing archival footage, Spaces of Exception showcases the present, in which each day lived is itself an act of resistance.

Discussion on Solidarity, Resilience and Resistence

Inspired by the movie Spaces of Exception, this panel will delve into aspects of solidarity within the context of liberation struggles and resistance movements. By connecting the spaces of American Indian reservations and Palestinian refugee camps, we aim to explore what it means to act in solidarity beyond mere empathy.

The discussion will highlight how communities come together to confront adversity and oppression, investigating the political dynamics between resilience and collective resistance. This conversation will emphasize the importance of shared struggles and the power of unified actions in the fight for justice and sovereignty. The panel will feature members from DAAS, Norbergfestival, ISM, and PDAF.