feminist elsewheres: We Shall Not Be Moved: Conversations with Fasia Jansen

Since 2023, feminist elsewheres has been organizing events that update and contextualize feminist film and art history. This year, a film and workshop series will take place at the Arsenal cinema and the Tempelhof Project space. After screening Ali* Benecke’s Darf man etwa nicht so egozentrisch sein und seine Erfahrungen für sich behalten? Diasporisches Erinnern an Fasia Jansen (2021) at the first feminist elsewheres festival 2023, the first program this year is also dedicated to Fasia Jansen (1929–1997). Jansen became famous as a singer and left-wing feminist activist during the wildcat strikes and Easter peace marches that took place in Germany in the 1970s and '80s. A Black lesbian woman, Jansen survived the Holocaust and fought her entire life for a better world. This program was named after We Shall Not Be Moved, an African-American spiritual and protest song that became an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement and, through Jansen, played a role in the labor struggles of West Germany. This program brings together films and documents, research and memories of Fasia Jansen, inviting activists, artists and filmmakers Jasmin Eding, Marny Garcia Mommertz, Christel Priemer and Ina Wudtke to discuss her work and life, moderated by Anujah Fernando.

FASIA JANSEN – SÄNGERIN (FASIA JANSEN – SINGER,Christel Priemer) was the first film portrait of Fasia Jansen and made as part of a television series called "Frauengeschichten" or "Women’s stories." It comprises interviews with the singer, interspersed with footage of her performances. The artist Ina Wudtke and ADEFRA e.V. co-founder Jasmin Eding will present their work on the audio installation Black Lives Audio Triptych, which will subsequently open as FASIA (G 2024, May 16–31, in the basement foyer). In it, Wudtke explores the lives of the three Black communists Fasia Jansen, Hilarius Gilges and Joseph Ekwe Bilé. On May 17, Marny Garcia Mommertz together with Tmnit Ghide will lead a workshop, offering an insight into her research for What would Fasia say? (2025). (fe)

The installation will be freely accessible from May 16–31 during Arsenal's opening hours.

The workshop will take place on May 17 from 1–4 p.m. in the project space feminist elsewheres; it is free and open after registration. More information on the workshop and registration: www.feminist-elsewheres.de. The program has received support from the Capital Cultural Fund.