An international seminar about the revolt of 1968 viewed from today. The seminar will focus on the events of four major global cities: Chicago, Mexico City, Berlin and Copenhagen and will involve presentations, films, images, sound and discussions.
November 20 – 21 10am-5pm (both days). Folkets Hus, Stengade 50, Nørrebro, Copenhagen.
Today, former revolutionary events seem to circulate mostly as empty emblems devoid of the historical material they once contained. The fortieth anniversary of 1968 seemed generally to confirm this tendency where fragments of history return as decontextualised signifiers fueling a life style industry supplying consumers with fashionable items and clothes. But as the intense interest of right-wing politicians all over the world show, the revolts of 1968 still remains a central landmark in recent history worth fighting for. From Denmark and Germany to the USA populist politicians launch full-scale assaults on the still living tradition of the 60’s. On the background of the diverse experiences of 1968 in Chicago, Mexico City, Berlin and Copenhagen the seminar is intended to work as a platform for a renewed discussion of resistance and liberation within today’s social-political landscape characterized by globalization and war.
Speakers are Rebecca Zorach (Chicago), Pilar Villela Mascaro (Mexico City), Katja Diefenbach and Stephan Geene (Berlin). Organised by Mikkel Bolt and Jakob Jakobsen.
Program:
Thursday November 20
10.00: Introduction:
1968 – Unfinished business?
Mikkel Bolt & Jakob Jakobsen
10.30: Chicago:
Chicago 1968 and the Super-real
Rebecca Zorach
13.30: Lunch break
14.30: Mexico City:
(Title to come)
Pilar Villela Mascaro
17.30. End
19.00: Food and Film….
Friday November 21
10.00. Berlin:
The other life alongside the violent rupture – Roaming hash-rebels, Movement 2nd June and militant counterculture in West-Berlin – The normalisation of minoritarian politics after 1968
Katja Diefenbach and Stephan Geene
13.00: Lunch break
14.00: Copenhagen/Berlin/Mexico City/Chicago 2008
Continuum or break: from cultural revolution to burning cars
Mikkel Bolt & Jakob Jakobsen/All speakers
17.00. End
19.00: Party perhaps…
Organised by Mikkel Bolt (Department of Art and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen) and Jakob Jakobsen (The Funen Art Academy) in collaboration with Nils Norman (The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Wall and Space) and Copenhagen Doctoral School in Cultural Studies.