social poetics*

The project social poetics* goes back to the collaboration between the artist Tomás Espinosa and the Red Comunitaria Trans, a community of sex workers from Bogotá, Colombia. In collective processes the cooperating participants developed performances, video works and sculptures that reflect the social and political struggle of the women against trans* and homophobia, racism and classism, as well as their rebellion. The joint works focus on individual fates as well as social and political activism. Against this background, the exhibition and publication project social poetics* was initiated to give this important artistic as well as activist collaboration a place to gather and articulate in the exhibition space and beyond. In addition to the collaboration with Red Communitaria Trans, it was the artistic work of Tomás Espinosa that was in focus in the exhibition. Tomás Espinosa explores the interface between 'private' and 'public'. His works are in a constant state of flux between collectivity, intimacy and solitude.

The Kunstverein Göttingen has shown the exhibition social poetics* on about 400 square metres of exhibition space in the rooms of the Old Town Hall Göttingen.
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The exhibition was curated by Vincent Schier and consisted of over 1,000 ceramic works, three video works. One of the video works, Holy Glory (2021) as well as the audio piece of the same name and the social sculpture Transinflatable was produced especially for social poetics*. The social poetics* activism event series was a deepening and continuation of the themes taken up in the social poetics* exhibition. The event discussed queer activism, the connection to art and strategies to take action against discriminatory and exclusionary structures.