As the frequently invoked stereotype of the “angry Black woman” or the insult “bitch” show, racist and sexist discrimination works not least through the policing of feelings, especially those that cause a stir in the public sphere, such as anger. Anne Potjans and Rebecca Racine Ramershoven's respective work in academia and art focuses on anger as a Black feminist empowerment strategy. But what about feelings such as sadness or joy? In a conversation, Potjans and Ramershoven will explore their personal exploration and the socio-political power that lies in the unrestricted expression of feelings in Black feminist theory and artistic practice.
Dr. Anne Potjans has lived in Berlin since 2015 and is a research associate in the European Research Council-funded Consolidator Grant Project “Tales of the Diasporic Ordinary. Aesthetics. Affects. Archives” at the Institute for English and American Studies at Humboldt-Universität Berlin. Her dissertation was awarded a full publication contract in the 2021 “New Perspectives in Black Studies” competition curated by the publishing house Peter Lang. Her book Why Are You So Angry: Anger and Rage in Black Feminist Literature was published in May 2024. Her current research project has the working title “Night Shift - Queer Subcultural Spaces and Black Diasporic Experience.”
Rebecca Racine Ramershoven (1987) lives and works in Cologne and Thessaloniki. As a visual artist, Ramershoven uses the media of photography, moving image and objects to negotiate questions of race-related representation and socio-cultural issues and possibilities. The engagement and integration of political and historical contexts play an important role in her conceptual approaches. In 2022, she received the “Contemporary German Photography” scholarship from the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation. In 2024