Keith Zenga King
BUILDING UTOPIA
In a series of texts, Black trans* interdisciplinary artist, writer, curator and theatre-maker Keith Zenga King offers insights into working towards her blueprint for a utopia built on collective imagination and the communal interweaving of difference.
The histories of the world bleed into our present moment
Amid the Corona crisis, Black Lives Matter protests erupted globally, an effect of the disproportional impact of the crisis on black people and long-standing deep-rooted structural racism in public life that have been brought to the forefront globally, including the rise of anti-Muslim racism, antisemitism, antislavic racism, anti-refugee sentiment and a backlash against the protections of the human rights of LGBTQI people. The histories of the world bleed into our present moment.
The world is fractured. How can we unfurl our collective imagination at the precipice of impossible horizons? Can we braid hope and despair to clasp worlds glistening with darkness into a new one? Is a perfect world even a possibility?
‘Utopia’ is usually described as an ‘imaginary’ community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. Here, ‘Utopia’ is reconceptualized as communities grounded in collective radical imagination and speculative world-building through constellations and entanglements of difference.
Research process & workshops
In the research process, BUILDING UTOPIA, the curator Keith Zenga King invites artists, visionaries, activists, thinkers, and intellectuals of diverse backgrounds, realities, experiences, and social positions from various communities to explore how a more equal and just world can be built despite differences between communities through moments of introspection and social connectedness to open up space for utopian ideas of collaboration.
The results of this workshop will be presented on 11 June, 7:00 – 8:30 pm in a lecture performance and video showings at the EineWeltHaus in Munich. Admission is free. Barrier free access to EineHausWelt.
BUILDING UTOPIA (workshops & showing) is in cooperation with: PLUS – People like us e.V. and SPIELART Theatre Festival, supported by: Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
About Keith Zenga King
Keith Zenga King is a Black trans* interdisciplinary artist, writer, curator and theatre-maker from Uganda living in Munich. Her work operates at the intersection of queer discourse, performance and politics. Before she fled into exile in Europe, Keith Zenga King campaigned for the rights of queer and trans Ugandans.
Since her flight, Keith Zenga King's work has explored the creation of new textures and embodiments at the intersection of intersectional identities where she lives.