A CITY OF OUR OWN

“A city of our own” aims to reclaim Vienna as the utopia of a feminist urban history. Public spaces, squares and streets are questioned and staged in the context of subversive perspectives. Support your local bike gang: Radical . Anarchist . Dangerous . Sisters are the actors of RAD Performance as part of the dotdotdot film festival!

“A city of our own” is a RAD Performance based on the book “City and Women. Another Topography of Vienna” by Elke Krasny, the Group Ride with the bike collective R.A.D.S. uses media interventions, soundscapes, projections and performances to negotiate different places in public space and follows biographies of women who have shaped (urban) history but are little present in the urban landscape. Meeting point, departure and finishing line at the Volkskundemuseum Wien.

In Vienna, FLINTA (female, lesbian, intersex, non-binary, transgender, agender) persons are unfortunately still underrepresented in public space. Only 8% of public streets are named after women*. Of a total of 4,269 streets in Vienna named after people, 3,913 are named after men and only 356 after women*. Many of these only feature the surname of the women* and are therefore not particularly eye-catching. In addition, there is an alarmingly high number of public places and streets that are still named after “politically questionable” persons. Interesting, for example, the renaming in 2006 of “Schlesingerplatz” to “Schlesingerplatz”. Named after the politician, women’s rights activist and writer Therese Schlesinger; from 1901-1938 and from 1948-2006 respectively the square was named after Josef Schlesinger, a known antisemite. Since 2017, there has been an explanation of Therese Schlesinger on the site. One of the biggest challenges in the urban landscape is making a different narrative possible. The utopia of a feminist city must already be lived today.

Artists & collectives

Performance: R.A.D.S. – queer feminist bike collective
Workshop: feminist killjoy
Food and drinks: EINANDERbewegt

Team

Sound: Gloria Amesbauer
Performance: Kitti Aszatalos
Research: Jaqueline Batz
Video: Selina Baumgartnerl
Performance/ Moderation: Ramona Cidej, Conny Zenk
Costume, Performance: Astrid Eder
Performance: Mischa Ehrne
Artistic Direction: Conny Zenk