fall/winter dates, starting October 2025, will be announced here from September
WORLD BUILDING READING SESSIONS
In monthly WORLD BUILDING READING SESSIONS, we turn to science fiction and speculative fiction (SF) to imagine alternative futures that counter the exploitative reality of racial capitalism. We encounter narratives that can help us rethink our human perspective on Earth, to break down binaries between dystopia and utopia, real and fictional, self and world. With SF we are looking for tools to test other forms of storytelling, which in turn will be the basis of our walking, working, material explorations and compost care.
We are reading all of the texts collectively and will create enough time for questions and clarifications. No prior text knowledge is required
ARCHIVE
ORLD BUILDING READING SESSION #6
LESUNG
Samstag 28. Juni , 2025, 16–18 Uhr
hosted by Mai Ling, Klasse für Alle
Ort Studio der Klasse für Alle im Heiligenkreuzerhof
Künstlerinnen des Kollektivs Mai Ling lesen mit uns aus dem Buch „Botany of Empire“ von Banu Subramaniam. Das Buch untersucht, wie koloniale Praktiken die botanische Wissenschaft geprägt und indigenes Wissen marginalisiert haben. Stattdessen schlägt sie eine antikoloniale Botanik vor, die verschiedene Formen von Wissen würdigt.
Mai Ling Reads ist eine monatliche Lesegruppe, die intersektionales feministisches Denken unterstützt. Wir lesen gemeinsam und finden neue Verbindungen, indem wir über das Gelesene sprechen.
WORLD BUILDING READING SESSION #5
BRAIDING SWEETGRASS – ROBIN WALL KIMMERER
Wednesday May 7, 2025, 5–7 pm
hosted by Vik Bayer
location Studio at Heiligenkreuzerhof, Schönlaterngasse 5, 1010 Vienna
Together we will read excerpts from the book “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
A book that talks about plants and animals as our teachers, as well as histories of Turtle Island, stories about the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, of which Kimmerer is a member, and economies that include careful relationships with the land and its environment. No prior knowledge is required. We will read together and talk about what we read.
We invite you to bring a plant that you feel a relation to and would feel comfortable to talk about that connection.
ARTISTS TALKS
EXHIBITION VISIT ANGELIKA LODERER: CITY BODY
BRENNESSEL PROJEKT GESPRÄCH KARL MICHAEL LANGE
Thursday March 27, 2025, 4–6 pm
hosted by Andrea Lumplecker
meeting point Galerie Sophie Tappeiner, An der Hülben 3, 1010 Wien
afterwards from around 5 pm studio at Heiligenkreuzerhof
WORLD BUILDING READING SESSION #4
Thursday January 16, 2025, 5–7 pm
hosted by Iketina Danso
Location Klasse für Alle, Heiligenkreuzerhof
Embrace diversity. Unite—
Or be divided,
robbed,
ruled,
killed
By those who see you as prey.
Embrace diversity
Or be destroyed*
*Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower (1993)
WORLD BUILDING READING SESSION #3
Thursday 12.12.2024, 5–7 pm
Beyond Borders: Exploring Middle Eastern Dystopian Fiction
hosted by Arwa Elabd
Location biblio box
This workshop explored the intersection of dystopian and fantasy storytelling in Middle Eastern literature, focusing on We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal and The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz. Participants examined how these authors use speculative fiction to address themes such as identity, oppression, resilience, and societal change, drawing on the rich cultural and historical backdrop of the Middle East. Through group discussions and text analysis, the workshop offered a deeper understanding of how these narratives connect to real-world issues and inspire new ways of thinking about literature and society.
WORLD BUILDING READING SESSION #2
Thursday 14.11.2024, 5–7 pm
Science fiction in times of ecological crises: Rethinking our being-in-the-world
hosted by Vik Bayer
Location Klasse für Alle, Heiligenkreuzerhof
After a short recap of our first session, we will start reading N.K. Jemisin’s “The Fifth Season” together. A novel that examines social inequality and resilience in the face of planetary disaster. Besides thinking about ecological crises in Science Fiction, the book will also help us understand the idea of world building better.
WORLD BUILDING READING SESSION #1
Thursday 17.10.2024, 5–7pm
One of many possible entry points into Science and Speculative Fiction: Tools and Methods to unravel dominant narratives
hosted by Vik Bayer
Location Klasse für Alle, Heiligenkreuzerhof
We started the reading session with excerpts from Slyvia Wynter’s “On Being Human as a Praxis” to question and critique the dominant Western idea of the “human” and concepts of modernity. This also involved reflecting on how narratives and forms of storytelling create realities and how we can – in dialogue with the texts we will read – experiment with methods of world-building and speculation in order to create alternatives to hegemonic ways of storytelling.
We read excerpts from these texts in dialogue with each other and in an associative manner.
Sylvia Wynter: On being human as a praxis
Kathryn Yusoff: A Billion Black Anthropocenes or None
Stefanie Hessler: A condensed Modern History of Distance
Elvia Wilk: Death by Landscape
Octavia E. Butler: Parable of the Sower
Gary Zhexi Zhang: Catastrophe Time!
Indigenous Action Media: Rethinking the Apocalypse: An Indigenous Anti-Futurist Manifesto
The reader ist still available in the library of Klasse für Alle in print.