Extramural 2026. Death and Resistance Seminar

As part of the project Extramural: Timelines / resurrection, the Death and Resistance seminar proposes a space for shared reflection on death as a political, social and cultural experience. While the Dora García project explores resurrection as a practice of justice, the reactivation of memory and the recovery of silenced voices, these sessions broaden this research to address what it means to die in our day, how the politics of mourning are constructed and how joint conceptions of death might become forms of political resistance.

Taking as starting points the ideas of Elias Canetti on death and power and Achille Mbembe’s notion of necropolitics, as well as the fiction of writers such as Octavia E. Butler and Philip K. Dick, the sessions arouse dialogue on artistic practices, research projects and common experiences that question normative forms of dying, remembering and building archives. In this regard, and in a space that triangulates between critical thinking, artistic practice and collective action, the programme proposes understanding death not as an endpoint, but as a place from where to rethink memory, forms of shared existence and the possibilities of political transformation.

PROGRAMME

These sessions feature invited artists, researchers and cultural and social agents working from different perspectives on death, memory and resistance. The five participating projects are as follows:

– Mortals (Morir Queer), with Albert Potrony and Roser Sanjuan: research on queer practices of death and mourning.

– Anarchivo Sida, with Nancy Garín of Equipo Re: a project that activates dissident archives on HIV/AIDS memories, from artistic, political and communitarian perspectives.

– Forats per a fer un rèquiem, with Roger Aixut and Laia Torrents, of Cabosanroque: artistic research on memory, ritual and contemporary forms of commemoration.

– Donem llum a la mort, with Tànit Güell: an initiative approaching death through reflection, conversation and personal experience.

– Som provisionals, with Júlia Sánchez Cid: cooperative that works to promote the sovereignty of death with a community approach, researching alternatives to the funeral industry, promoting self-management and collective empowerment.

These reflections will be followed by a debate, moderated by Dora García.

The full seminar program will be published soon.

[Image: Still from If I Could Wish for Something, digital film, Dora García, 2020]