Free Entry

Critical Faculties. BiPoC+ FLINTA* at Art Academies is a collaborative research project between the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG Karlsruhe) and the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK Berlin), running until 2027. Using empirical and artistic research, the project examines knowledge production, politics of visibility, and mechanisms of exclusion within art academies, as well as the strategies BiPoC+ FLINTA* individuals use to navigate these conditions.

The scientific survey, with a focus on racism, inequality, and higher education research, is based at the UdK Berlin. The artistic research is located at the HfG Karlsruhe in the Department of Media Art and is carried out in cooperation with the ABK Stuttgart, the AdBK Nuremberg, and the HBK Braunschweig. The starting point of the artistic research involves questions of knowledge production and archival practices, the decoding colonial algorithms, the art canon within teaching, and the design of communicative practices.Further areas of investigation include visibility politics in art, drawing as a political gesture, and self-institutionalization as both an artistic and political strategy.

The kick-off event in the atrium of the HfG Karlsruhe will introduce the project participants and present the core questions, which will then be discussed with guests and the audience.

Programme

6.00pm Welcome - Prof. Dr. Simon Sheikh, Vice-Rector at HfG Karlsruhe • Introduction by Ülkü Süngün, Project Lead, HfG Karlsruhe

6.30pm Artist Talk - Prof. Natascha Sadr Haghighian, HfK Bremen

7.30pm Panel Discussion with Project Partners - Critical Diversity and Universities

8.30pm Video Screening - Visited by a Tiger" (2019) by Anike Joyce Sadiq

9.00pm Small Reception

Awareness Team
An on-site awareness team will be present throughout the event to provide support, ensure a safer space, and serve as a point of contact for concerns related to discrimination, accessibility, or conflict situations. Contact: ed.ehurslrak-gfh(ta)seitlucaflacitirc

Guests

Dr. Antony Pattathu - Social and cultural anthropologist and scholar of religious studies (Heidelberg University, University of California, Berkeley). Founding member of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Global South Studies, Antony’s work focuses on topics such as decolonization, care migration, religion, postcolonialism, and intersectional critiques of racism. Head of the Department for Anti-Racism, Democracy Promotion, and Integration of the City of Heidelberg.

Anujah Fernando - Cultural studies scholar, curator, and filmmaker. In research-based exhibitions, discursive event formats, and documentary film projects, Anujah works from a transnational and feminist perspective on questions of public memory. Anujah’s research and publications further explore anti-discrimination and institutional change in the cultural sector.

Prof. Natascha Sadr Haghighian - Artist born in Tehran working across video, performance, sound installation, animation, comics, and documentary formats. Natascha’s practice centres on shifting perspectives by deconstructing and recombining perceptual structures. Natascha frequently employs multiple identities as an artistic strategy. Participated in the 2019 Venice Biennale as Natascha Süder Happelmann for the German Pavilion. Professor of Sculpture at the University of the Arts Bremen.

Researchers

Prof. Lucienne Roberts - Graphic designer and design writer. Founder of Lucienne-Roberts+, a London-based studio committed to socially responsible design, and co-founder of GraphicDesign&. Professor of Communication Design. ABK Stuttgart

Prof. Heba Y. Amin - Media artist and theorist examining colonial image politics, technology, and power. Heba’s work has been widely exhibited and recognized. Professor for Digital and Time-Based Media Art. ABK Stuttgart

Prof. Katrin Ströbel Artist and professor of Drawing & Graphic Art. Katrin’s work addresses migration, colonialism, gender roles, and visual languages in global contexts. ABK Stuttgart

Prof. Anike Joyce Sadiq - Artist and professor of Fine Arts & Art Education. Anike’s practice investigates politics of representation and cultures of remembrance from post-migrant and post-colonial perspectives.AdBK Nuremberg

Prof. Havîn Al-Sîndy- Artist and researcher focusing on memory, decoloniality, and feminist perspectives. Havin’s practice merges artistic research with activism. Professor for Art & Ecologies / Institute for Performative Practice, Art and Education. HBK Braunschweig

Prof. Diana McCarty - Feminist media artist; co-founder of reboot.fm, Faces-land Red Forest. Her projects weave together feminist politics, media, and community engagement. Professor for Time Based Media & Performance. HfG Karlsruhe

Prof. Ulas Aktas - Works at the intersection of aesthetic education, pedagogy and critical theory. Ulas investigates media and image theory, the politics of representation, postcoloniality, vulnerability, difference and care-feminist critiques of capitalist educational structures. Professor for Art Didactics / Aesthetic Education & Primary School Art Pedagogy. UdK Berlin

Ülkü Süngün - Artist and activist researcher. Founder of the Institution for Artistic Post-Migration Research. Ülkü’s work links art with socially critical inquiry into memory, migration and identity politics. Initiator and project lead of Critical Faculties. HfG Karlsruhe