Ohnmacht needs to be discussed, shared and reflected upon. That is why the theme of Fortress Ohnmacht is framed by a strong discourse programme. The first event will be a one-day conference with international participants. In addition to defining Ohnmacht as an omnipresent phenomenon, the conference wants to open up a space in which ways of dealing with it can be discussed in solidarity. How can we find alternatives to authoritarian responses, cynicism, political depression but also to an unquestioned forced optimism as a reaction to our feelings of powerlessness? What perspectives beyond resignation can open up when we look Ohnmacht in the face? Guests include Ann Cvetkovich, Benjamin Opratko and Norbert Prinz.

The conference will end in a party entitled Sich in Ohnmacht tanzt (I dance myself into Ohnmacht) with concerts between pop and harsh noise and a DJing programme that will do justice to the title of the evening.

Programme:

16:00
Welcome to Fortress Ohnmacht
with Markus Gönitzer, Robin Klengel
and Miriam Schmid
Lecture in German

16:15 - 18:30
Ohnmacht as a public feeling with Ann Cvetckovicm
Q&A moderated by Dijana Simić and Si Sophie Pages Whybrew *
lecture in English, connected via Zoom*

19:00 - 20:30
Fighting, Accepting, Overcoming. Strategies for dealing with Ohnmacht
with Benjamin Opratko, Norbert Prinz and Ipek Yüksek. moderated by Sara T. Huber
Lecture in German

From 21:00 Sich in Ohnmacht Tanzt / I dance myself into Ohnmacht. Party and concerts with Brezel Göring, Nilu, and b2b Billy Hash.

Markus Gönitzer, Robin Klengel and Mariam Schmid are part of Forum Stadtparks collective board.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES:

Ann Cvetckovic
Is a cultural scholar and professor of Women's and Gender Studies in Ottawa, Canada. In her book "Depression. A public feeling," she explains, among other things, the connection between political depression, activist frustration, and depression as an overall social, cultural mass phenomenon.

Dijana Simić and Si Sophie Pages Whybrew are active in research, teaching (University of Graz) and activism in Graz. Their research interests include gender and affect studies.

Benjamin Opratko
Is part of the editorial team of TAGEBUCH, in addition to research activities at Leuphana Universität Lüneburg. As part of the research project Cultures of Rejection, he researched the increasing rejection towards democratic institutions, political participation in general and an accompanying authoritarianization.

Norbert Prinz
works as a Gestalt therapist and supervisor and has been active in the climate movement for many years. As co-founder of the "Climate Collapse Cafe Leipzig", he is committed to an intensive social debate on the socio-ecological collapse.

Ipek Yüksek is an activist in the context of migrant self-organisation and is doing (feminist) solidarity work with many others in the wake of the catastrophic aftermath of the earthquakes in Turkey. She is also a journalist for "Radio Helsinki - Freies Radio Graz", "Mosaik Blog. Reassembling Politics" and "an.schläge - Das feministische Magazin".

Sara T. Huber heads the social politics section at Forum Stadtpark and researches feminist movements and feminist discourses of reproduction.