Manifestos have been historically used by feminist activists, artists and writers to boldly state their ideas and demands. Usually brief and direct in tone, they point to circumstances deemed unacceptable and in need of change, and propose pathways to move forward in order to overcome the status quo. From Olympe de Gouges in revolutionary France to the Redstockings in the streets of New York City and the Zapatistas in the remote mountains of the Mexican southeast, women have employed manifestos as a means to be heard and circulate their ideas, but also as a way to build coalitions with others who might recognize themselves in their struggles. As part of the year-long seminar cycle Freedom of Speech: Curriculum for Studies into Darkness, this event proposes speech as a collective act of re-appropriation. It calls for a network of resistance and transformation through the enactment of a series of documents written by women in different corners of the world during different moments in time, resonant with the explosive reality we experience now.

Feminist Manifestos is presented as a two-part public program that will activate written statements challenging cultural production, food distribution, knowledge creation, land ownership and other systems of oppression that the patriarchy, still today, refuses to acknowledge. Starting at 10am on Monday morning, a diverse group of self-identified women from across The New School—students, alumni, administrative and maintenance staff, union members, and faculty—will be reading and performing a selection of historical and contemporary manifestos at various locations within the university’s architecture. Those specific spaces have been selected because they relate to the content of the texts, and play a significant role in the performers´ daily lives. Through the acts of public speaking and collective listening, quotidian spaces become the context for socio-political struggles while also pointing out at the emancipatory potential of our everyday activities and choices.

The second part of the event serves as a gathering to discuss the conditions from which the manifestos emerged and the ways in which they have catalyzed new forms of cooperation and collective action. Along with feminist scholars and visual artists, we will explore ideas—gleaned from the documents—such as the perpetuation of capitalism based on the unpaid reproductive labor women perform, or the unexpected advantages of anonymity within the arts. Additionally, women who enacted the manifestos earlier in the day will be sharing their experiences of performing Free Speech, embodying the knowledge, perspectives and emotions embedded in those statements.

CONVERSATION: 6:30-8:30pm

Participants
Those registered and
Becca Albee: Visual Artist and Musician
Chiara Bottici: Associate Professor of Philosophy, The New School for Social Research
Silvia Federici: Philosopher, Scholar, Writer, and Activist from the Radical Autonomist Marxist tradition
A.L. Steiner: Visual Artist, Teacher, Collaborator, and Co-Founder of Ridykeulous and Working Artists and the Greater Economy (W.A.G.E.)

Moderator
Gabriela López Dena: Vera List Center Graduate Student Fellow, Art, and Social Justice

READINGS & PERFORMANCES: 10:00am-6:00pm

Melanie Crean
Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Haraway, 1985
10:00-10:45am
Main lobby
Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall, 66 West 12th Street

Abby Zan Schwarz
Women’s Environmental Rights: A Manifesto by Leslie Weisman, 1981
10:00-11:00am
Stairwell, 5th-6th floor
University Center, 63 Fifth Avenue

Hannah Roodman
A Manifesto by Agnes Denes, 1970
10:30-11:30am
Elevators
Albert and Vera List Academic Center, 6 East 16th Street

Gabriela López Dena
Palabras a nombre de las mujeres Zapatistas al inicio del primer encuentro internacional, político, artístico, deportivo y cultural de mujeres que luchan by the Zapatista Women, 2018
11:00am-12:00pm
Foyer, University President’s Office, 8th floor
Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall, 66 West 12th Street

Zara Khjadeeja Majoka
The Charter of Feminist Principles for African Feminists by the African Feminist Forum, 2006
11:30am-1:30pm and 2:00-4:00pm
Entrance of the List Center Library, 8th floor
Albert and Vera List Academic Center, 6 East 16th Street

Gal Cohen
Manifesto for Maintenance Art 1969! by Mierle Laderman Ukeles, 1969
12:00-1:00pm
Main lobby
Sheila Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th Street

Iayana Elie
The Combahee River Collective Statement by Combahee River Collective, 1977
1:00-2:00pm
The Walter A. and Vera Eberstadt Student Lounge, 5th floor
University Center, 63 Fifth Avenue

Thalia Rondon Raffo
Manifiesto de práctica feminista by Asociación de Revistas Culturales Independientes de Argentina, 2018
2:00-3:00pm
Social Justice Hub, 5th floor
University Center, 63 Fifth Avenue

Claire Potter
Declaration of the Rights of Woman by Olympe de Gouges, 1791
2:15-3:00pm
O Café
Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, 65 West 11th Street

Chasity Wilson
Wages for Housework by The Wages for Housework Committee, 1978
3:00-4:00pm
Housing and Residential Education
318 East 15th St

Caroline García
Xenofeminist Manifesto by Laboria Cuboniks, 2018
3:30-5:30pm
Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries, 66 Fifth Avenue

Aleksandra Wagner
Feminist Manifesto by Mina Loy, 1914
3:45-4:15pm
Security booth
Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall, 66 West 12th Street

Quenessa Barnes
Women’s Declaration on Food Sovereignty by Nayéléni: Forum for Food Sovereignty, 2007
4:00-5:30pm
Sushi Bar, 2nd floor
University Center, 63 Fifth Avenue

Caroline Macfarlane
Redstockings Manifesto by Redstockings, 1969
4:00-5:00pm
Classrooms across the 6th floor
Albert and Vera List Academic Center, 6 East 16th Street

Ola Ronke
Transformation of Silence Into Language and Action by Audre Lorde, 1977
5:30-6:00pm
University Center Library
University Center, 63 Fifth Avenue

The seminar series Freedom of Speech. A Curriculum for Studies into Darkness is organized by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics as part of the center’s 2018–2020 curatorial focus If Art Is Politics. It is directed by Carin Kuoni, Director/Chief Curator, Vera List Center, and Laura Raicovich with a critical contribution by Gabriela López Dena. Partner organizations for the seminars are ARTICLE 19; the National Coalition Against Censorship; New York Peace Institute; and Weeksville Heritage Center.
Feminist Manifestos has been curated by Vera List Center Graduate Student Fellow Gabriela López Dena within the context of her thesis project Feminist Urbanism.

Say It Like You Mean It: On Translation, Communication, Languages is the fourth in a series of seminars, dedicated to Freedom of Speech:

Seminar 1: Mapping the Territory
Monday, November 12, 2018
Partner organization: The National Coalition Against Censorship

Seminar 2: Feminist Manifestos
Monday, December 3, 2018

Seminar 3: Pervasive and Personal: Observations on Free Speech Online
Monday, February 11, 2019
Partner organization: ARTICLE 19

Seminar 4: Say It Like You Mean It: On Translation, Communication, Languages
Monday, March 11, 2019

Seminar 5: A Time for Seditious Speech
Saturday, April 13, 2019
Partner organization: Weeksville Heritage Center

Seminar 6: Going Towards the Heat: Speaking Across Difference
Monday, June 10, 2019
Partner organization: New York Peace Institute

Closing Convening
Friday & Saturday, September 20 & 21, 2019