Filling in the Blanks

There is a set of words, a handful of sentences, some recurring ways in which I’ll talk to you: about an ache, about a certain pain, a nuisance, a bother. There is a list of vocabularies I always come back to, so often, that I can’t help but to forget its origin, do you know, what I mean?

In this reading group we will gather once a month to discuss crucial texts that underlie the thing we call the current discourse. We will try a close reading of some of the fundamental texts of (post-)colonial, abolitionist, Queer and Feminist studies. Are we sure we mean the same thing when we use the same words, or does it help to come together and share our different readings and interpretations, filling in the blanks, the gaps in our understanding.

Each session will be accompanied by an artist, activist or researcher who will present a text, a poem, or a chapter in a book, set their own focus and give impulses to the discussion.Together, we shape tangible terms from our shared reading and discussion experiences—a New Glossary for the journey ahead.

The texts will be part of a reader that will be accessible to everyone who signs up to the reading group - reading the text is not necessary for taking part in the group, though it is encouraged to do it, so we have a mutual basis on which we can discuss.

The reading group is curated and moderated by Ameena Quansah and Tanasgol Sabbagh.