DICE Conference + Festival

The third edition of DICE Forum took place at Prinzessinnengärten in Neukölln on September 17th, featuring guests Dr. Edna Bonhomme and Daddypuss Rex. Our guest mix was made by Detroit-based dj ETTA. DICE Forum is a nomadic event series which explores artists’ personal biographies and artistic practices as well as their relationships to larger cultural movements and art forms. Each installment represents a different artistic perspective, delving into working environments, socio-political influences, creative processes, and more. Each in-depth artist talk is followed by a DJ set, in changing venues throughout Berlin. All talks and DJ mixes will be made available online shortly after each event, to allow everyone to participate regardless of location or current restrictions. About the Artists: Edna Bonhomme is a Black feminist, art worker, historian, lecturer, and writer whose work interrogates the archaeology of (post)colonial science, healing, and liberation. A central question of her work asks: what makes people sick? As a researcher, she answers this question by exploring the spaces and modalities of care and toxicity that shape the possibility for repair. She has collaborated and exhibited critical multimedia projects in Berlin, Copenhagen, Prague, and Vienna which explore the genealogical mutations of archives and memory. She is a co-host of the podcast Decolonization in Action through her Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science. In addition to her creative work, Edna has written for publications such as A frica is a Country, Aljazeera, The Baffler Magazine, Missy Magazine, The Nation Magazine, and other publications. She has taught courses at Humboldt University, Bard College Berlin, Drexel University and will be teaching a course entitled "Fear of a Pandemic" at Freie Universität this fall. You can follow her on Twitter at jacobinoire. By night, Daddypuss Rex is an intersectional gender terrorist with a big mouth and who isn’t afraid to use it. Based in Berlin, they are a multidisciplinary artist/poet/stand-up comedian and co-producer of the QueerTrans talk show ‘Just The T’. They often use a mix of poetry and humour to navigate topics such as white supremacy, misogynoir, transphobia and general colonial fuckery. With appearances and performances at the Schwules Museum, OWP nights, CurlCon, Maxim Gorki Theatre, Soho House as well as featuring on city-wide podcast and radio shows (Decolonization in Action, Love in the Time of Corona, Tipsy Bear Radio). Most recently, they co-created and facilitated a QueerTrans stand-up comedy workshop as part of the Outreach nGbK Scholarship 2020 (Vermittlungsstipendium nGbK 2020) - their goal is to touch hearts, minds and butts...with active consent! Conversely, by day, Daddypuss is a trauma-informed yoga teacher whose classes center Black and Queer experiences, narratives and bodies of all shapes, sizes and abilities - giving space to practitioners to fully exercise their agency on and off the mat and to hopefully (re)connecting them to their own bodies. DICE Forum is a nomadic event series which explores artists’ personal biographies and artistic practices as well as their relationships to larger cultural movements and art forms. Each instalment represents a different artistic perspective, delving into working environments, socio-political influences, creative processes, and more. Each in-depth artist talk is followed by a DJ set, in changing venues throughout Berlin. All talks and DJ mixes will be made available online shortly after each event, to allow everyone to participate regardless of location or current restrictions. More info on upcoming events can be found at dice.berlin DICE theme by Elie Gregory featuring Sanni Est Sign up for our newsletter at dice.berlin/signup and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @dicebln

The second edition of DICE Forum on August 12th 2020 featured a conversation between DICE team member Sanni Est and artist Anthony Hüseyin. Sanni will also contribute our guest mix, which is currently available under our Mixes playlist. Born in Urfa and raised in Istanbul, Anthony Hüseyin completed his master degree in jazz singing in the Netherlands. In 2012 his debut album ‘Safran’ was launched at Paradiso, followed by an extensive international tour. In late 2017 Anthony's second album, 'The Lucky One’, a melancholic dark electro-pop mixed with tender jazz-pop vocals was released at Paradiso, Amsterdam and won the second prize in the singer-songwriter category in The Netherlands. As a non-binary musician, performer and activist Anthony currently resides in Rotterdam and Berlin. Sanni Est is an artist, curator and trans*feminist speaker based in Berlin and with roots in North-Eastern Brazil. Making use of different media, Sanni weaves raw, autobiographical narratives that range from filmmaking on queer BIPoC subjects from different parts of the world, singing, songwriting, acting, writing and speaking, using her trans* brown body as a performative tool of expression to provoke the viewer and confront them with their colonial perceptions of gender performativity. DICE Forum is a nomadic event series which explores artists’ personal biographies and artistic practices as well as their relationships to larger cultural movements and art forms. Each instalment represents a different artistic perspective, delving into working environments, socio-political influences, creative processes, and more. Each in-depth artist talk is followed by a DJ set, in changing venues throughout Berlin. All talks and DJ mixes will be made available online shortly after each event, to allow everyone to participate regardless of location or current restrictions. More info on upcoming events can be found at dice.berlin DICE theme by Elie Gregory featuring Sanni Est Sign up for our newsletter at dice.berlin/signup and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @dicebln

The first edition of DICE Forum featured a conversation between DICE curator Ari Robey-Lawrence and artist and researcher Juba. Juba is a Berlin-based DJ from London, whose work represents a strong connection to her Nigerian roots and her love for African diasporic music, linking together a wide range of club music styles from gqom to kuduro and highlife. https://www.facebook.com/jubamusicldn/ https://www.theneighbourhoodcharacter... DICE Forum is a nomadic event series which explores artists’ personal biographies and artistic practices as well as their relationships to larger cultural movements and art forms. Each instalment represents a different artistic perspective, delving into working environments, socio-political influences, creative processes, and more. Each in-depth artist talk is followed by a DJ set, in changing venues throughout Berlin. All talks and DJ mixes will be made available online shortly after each event, to allow everyone to participate regardless of location or current restrictions. More info on upcoming events can be found at http://dice.berlin DICE theme by Elie Gregory featuring Sanni Est Sign up for our newsletter at http://dice.berlin/signup and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @dicebln

DICE 2019 | The Revolution Will Not Be Funded This panel, named after the must-read book by INCITE!, addresses how to navigate fundraising for grassroots projects. When organising socially-focused or activist events, we're faced with a range of choices. DIY is a lot of fun, until everyone burns out. Commercialising activities in order to pay the bills often runs counter to the central political values of activist groups. The funding landscape seems to offer a sort of third way, a path out of burnout and financial ruin, without needing to cater to brands or chase profit. However, it comes with its own set of difficulties and barriers to success. Discussing the positives and pitfalls of the funding cycle are Lena Szirmay-Kalos (Montag Modus), Sky Deep (Reclaim the Beats Festival/Reveller Records), Jana Braun (Bezirkskulturfonds Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg), with moderation by Lucy Alice Thomas (Give Something Back To Berlin). DICE Conference + Festival is a three-day music and discourse festival in Berlin, Germany, creating a more equitable model for music spaces. DICE theme by Elie Gregory featuring Sanni Est Sign up for our newsletter at http://dice.berlin/signup/ and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @dicebln

DICE 2019 | Grantwriting Workshop with Maebh Murphy A successful grant application can get you money and allow you to implement your project ideas or make them more sustainable. In this practical session we will go into the motivations behind grant applications, how to find suitable funders and the basic elements of a grant application including project proposal, budget, timeline and work packages. We will also touch on the non-profit industrial complex, introducing some ideas from the book by INCITE! called “The Revolution Will Not Be Funded” and exploring how we can both survive under capitalism and other oppressions and do necessary and sustainable community, artistic and activist work. This interactive lecture will give you the tools to get cracking on your next funding application and identify areas you need to work on. Concrete project ideas are welcome but not necessary. Maebh Murphy is a musician and organiser. In the 2000s following her studies in literature and drama in Ireland, she made site specific urban audio tours in the UK and Ireland and at festivals in Europe and the U.S. She has been instrument and band coaching and programming events for girls and queer rock camps and related projects since 2011. She also works as a consultant in project development.Together with a group of artists and activists she founded ATEM e.V. in 2018, which makes projects by and for people who experience discrimination in – amongst other fields – music. DICE Conference + Festival is a three-day music and discourse festival in Berlin, Germany, creating a more equitable model for music spaces. DICE theme by Elie Gregory featuring Sanni Est Sign up for our newsletter at http://dice.berlin/signup/ and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @dicebln

DICE 2019 | Intergenerationality in Dance Music with Ari Robey-Lawrence, KILLA, Jenifa Mayanja and Mac Folkes Since the nascence of the concept of popular culture in the early 20th century, it was considered something that was inherently generational — a fundamental characteristic being that each generation abandons the habits, styles and aesthetics of the old in favour of the new and completely modern. The advent of the electronic age has led to a palpable splintering between generations where fertile ground for coalition between generations once existed. Does the opportunity for intergenerational coalition and communication still exist in dance music environments? How do participants in local rave scenes circumnavigate the division and isolation imposed by the dominance of social media & virtual communities? How do we reconcile the need for exchange between generations of the past and present in the Internet age? DICE Conference + Festival is a three-day music and discourse festival in Berlin, Germany, creating a more equitable model for music spaces. DICE theme by Elie Gregory featuring Sanni Est Sign up for our newsletter at http://dice.berlin/signup/ and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @dicebln

DICE 2019 | Immigrants: We Get The Job Done! Migration and Drag Culture A panel discussion with Cupcake, DARVISH, Prince Emrah, and Judy LaDivina, moderated by the witty tragicomic Lux Venérea. Immigrants: We Get The Job Done is a conversation between four artists who have either immigrated or have refugee/asylum status in Berlin and have created strikingly beautiful artistic personas while structuring their own collectives and events on their own terms. They speak about their processes of coming into their own as artists while getting the job done by creating safe(r) spaces for other artists of immigrant and refugee status. DICE Conference + Festival is a three-day music and discourse festival in Berlin, Germany, creating a more equitable model for music spaces. DICE theme by Elie Gregory featuring Sanni Est Sign up for our newsletter at http://dice.berlin/signup/ and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @dicebln

DICE 2019 | Collectivity Deconstructed a talk by Dr. Luiza Prado and Dr. Edna Bonhomme We're proud to share "Collectivity Deconstructed", a talk by Dr. Luiza Prado and Dr. Edna Bonhomme. This talk unpacks the term "collectivity" as it is defined and practiced in creative and research projects. The speakers honour collaboration as a starting point for creativity and map out ways to take an intersectional approach to working collectively. DICE Conference + Festival is a three-day music and discourse festival in Berlin, Germany, creating a more equitable model for music spaces. DICE theme by Elie Gregory featuring Sanni Est Sign up for our newsletter at dice.berlin/signup/ and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @dicebln

DICE 2019 | Race, Gender, and Identity Politics as Currency: Whose is it to Spend? A panel discussion with Mac Folkes, Esther Jeroboan, Christelle Oyiri & Djibril Sall. Conceptualized and moderated by DICE co-curator Ari Robey-Lawrence. In recent years, “Identity” has risen to the top of the contemporary consciousness, and nowhere more than in the underground and experimental arts scenes. In response, a race to establish “diversity” initiatives, particularly among music platforms that have been criticised for their lack of diversity, has transpired across the industry. Dance music has seen a surge in formerly underrepresented performers being pushed into the spotlight, and identity has become a new currency that festivals, club bookers and labels are eager to trade in. But to what extent are these formerly sidelined demographics able to control or mediate their new-found representation? How permanent are these apparent changes for the better, and who ultimately profits from such change? What sort of role should identity play in dance music (or other creative industries) and what an identity-based economy might look like when motivated by equitable representation, as opposed to the appearance of “diversity”? In memory of Mac Folkes. DICE Conference + Festival is a three-day music and discourse festival in Berlin, Germany, creating a more equitable model for music spaces. DICE theme by Elie Gregory featuring Sanni Est Sign up for our newsletter at http://dice.berlin/signup/ and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @dicebln

DICE 2019 | Spins and Spells: a presentation by Lyra Pramuk In this presentation, Lyra Pramuk shares insights into her live performance and composition process as it currently unravels. Focusing on personal and historical background, live, improvised singing, resampling, and FX processing, this presentation posits a model for embodied improvisation between human and computer leading to a speculative, post-human music practice rooted in dedication, listening, and embodiment. DICE Conference + Festival is a three-day music and discourse festival in Berlin, Germany, creating a more equitable model for music spaces. DICE theme by Elie Gregory featuring Sanni Est Sign up for our newsletter at http://dice.berlin/signup/ and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @dicebln

DICE 2019 | Tossing the Master's Tools, a talk by Dr. Emilia Roig, Executive Director of the Center for Intersectional Justice (CIJ) What does transformation look like? Oppressive patterns permeate all areas of life, including left wing movements and politics. Toxicity and domination can be overcome. If we shift our resources and power in another direction, from reacting to dismantling and rebuilding we can escape reproducing the patterns inherited from the oppressors. It's easier said than done, but therein lies the power of liberation. Emilia Roig is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Intersectional Justice (CIJ), a Berlin-based organisation combatting intersecting forms of inequality and discrimination in Europe. She is faculty member of the Social Justice Study Abroad Program of DePaul University of Chicago and has taught graduate and post-graduate courses on Intersectionality Theory, Postcolonial Studies, Critical Race Theory and International and European Law. She holds a PhD in political science, a Master of Public Policy and an MBA from the Humboldt University of Berlin, the Hertie School of Governance and Jean Moulin University of Lyon. More info on CIJ here: https://www.intersectionaljustice.org/ DICE Conference + Festival is a three-day music and discourse festival in Berlin, Germany, creating a more equitable model for music spaces. DICE theme by Elie Gregory featuring Sanni Est Sign up for our newsletter at http://dice.berlin/signup and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @dicebln

Listening Work: Listening as a crucial political act A workshop with Dr. Marie Thompson Listening is often presented as a crucial political act: it is a vital component of activism, remembrance and community-building. As such, listening has been at the heart of many ethico-aesthetic practices, including acoustic ecology’s ear-cleaning exercises and Pauline Oliveros’ Deep Listening. Yet these important figurations tend not to address listening’s intersections with social reproduction. This workshop assumes two things to be true at once. Listening is a key component of feminist activism and social justice. Listening is also unevenly anticipated, unevenly distributed, often undervalued, readily exploited and frequently commodified. In light of this, I connect listening to recent debates about emotional labour, considering the implications for understandings of sonic affect and demands for us to listen more. In recognising the ways in which listening helps to reproduce, rather than challenge, the inequalities that constitute social life, this talk/workshop aims to re-evaluate the politics of listening in a way that makes space for listening’s ambivalence. DR. MARIE THOMPSON Marie Thompson is a researcher and educator, based in Nottingham, UK. Her work centres on the affective, gendered and material dimensions of sound, noise and music. Marie is a Lecturer in The University of Lincoln’s School of Film and Media, where she teaches on Sound and Music Production, Media Studies and Gender Studies degree programs. She is the author of Beyond Unwanted Sound: Noise, Affect and Aesthetic Moralism (Bloomsbury, 2017). Marie is a founding participant of the Sonic Cyberfeminisms project, which explores the relationship between gender, sound and technology. Venue: Böhmischer Kirchensaal DICE Conference + Festival is a three-day event which provides a platform for artists with inventive artistic visions, who are socially conscious, and who are shaping the future. The program includes workshops, panels, lectures and live performances featuring female, trans, and non-binary artists and speakers. We aim to nurture a vibrant independent community, providing essential support systems as well as serving as a catalyst for artistic growth. Podcast theme by Elie Gregory, featuring Sanni Est

Does working with brands automatically mean selling out, or are there responsible ways to work with brands to fund your music? Whether brands are contacting you or you’re reaching out, the possibilities of brand sponsorship can be confusing, especially if you’re just getting started. That’s why we’ve invited a selection of experts from different parts of the industry — performers, promoters, business development managers, booking agents — to share advice and best practice from their experience in working with brands DICE Conference + Festival is a three-day event which provides a platform for artists with inventive artistic visions, who are socially conscious, and who are shaping the future. The program includes workshops, panels, lectures and live performances featuring female, trans, and non-binary artists and speakers. We aim to nurture a vibrant independent community, providing essential support systems as well as serving as a catalyst for artistic growth. Podcast theme by Elie Gregory, featuring Sanni Est

Pêdra will present her artistic work and will elaborate on her use of post-porn as a strategy of pleasure, aesthetics, and politics. Pêdra Costa works with her body, presenting Performance Art, making videos and writing, using complex and fragmented epistemologies from queer communities, being contaminated by knowledge almost completely destroyed by the colonial project and remembering radical caring against the lack of opportunities of living. S/he engages the political aesthetics of post-porn and anti-colonial strategies. S/he faces failure every day, transforming failure into creative force, in connection with mixed and forgotten ancestralities. Exhibitions include Multitud Marica: Activaciones de archivos sexo-disidentes en América Latina, Santiago de Chile 2017 (Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende); QUEER ENCOUNTERS_VIENNA TRANS LA, Los Angeles 2017 (CalArts School of Art); WELT KOMPAKT?, Vienna 2017 (frei_raum Q21, MuseumsQuartier); Millionaires Can Be Trans // You Are So Brave, Berlin 2015 (Schwules Museum); Oral Museum of the Revolution, Barcelona 2013 (MACBA); Caos e Efeito, São Paulo 2011 (Itaú Cultural). de_colon_isation part IV: a performative experience is a live performance to create a space of intimacy and political claim through the body, live images by a dildo camera and "The Southern Butthole Manifesto". It uses post-porn as a strategy of pleasure, aesthetics and politics. Failure and precariousness are words impregnated in her biography and artwork. Playing the artist as an exhibitionist, it shows performance art as a place to interact with the presence of the audience and disturb their gaze, through feelings, desire and empathy. The action merges the social categories of public and private, privileges and subalternity, sameness and alterity. Venue: Böhmischer Kirchensaal DICE Conference + Festival is a three-day event which provides a platform for artists with inventive artistic visions, who are socially conscious, and who are shaping the future. The program includes workshops, panels, lectures and live performances featuring female, trans, and non-binary artists and speakers. We aim to nurture a vibrant independent community, providing essential support systems as well as serving as a catalyst for artistic growth. Featuring: Lena Platonos / FAKA / Moor Mother(DJ) / Born In Flamez / PLANNINGTOROCK / Kiki Hitomi / Ms. Boogie / LYZZA / Sonora Mulata / Surma / Kim Ki O / Ah Mer Ah Su / SUUTOO/ Strip Down / R.A.N / Kampire - DJ and more TBA Talks, Panels and Workshops by: Scheidersladen / Musicians Without Borders / Sonic Cyberfeminisms / Reclaim The Beats / New World Dysorder / Hoe__mies / Tina Lee / Christine Kakaire / Jane Arnison / Dr. Marie Thompson / Frances Morgan / Centre for Intersectional Justice / Room 4 Resistance / Pansy Presents / a.r.r.m Jordan and more TBA

Should we get rid of Identity Politics? A talk by Dr. Emilia Roig, Executive Director of the Center for Intersectional Justice (CIJ) Should we get rid of identity politics and move beyond the very categories that are the basis for social hierarchies and inequalities? Or shall we continue to think, talk and frame oppression, inequality, (in)visiblity and domination along these lines? Identities are complex, flexible, multiple, and most importantly are a societal, historical and political mirror of who we really are. They say more about the way we are perceived than about our intrinsic selves. They can be mobilised for very different purposes and can fulfil various, sometimes opposite functions. Can we move on and see them as a remnants from the past, or do we still need them to achieve our political goals? Emilia Roig is a queer feminist of color and the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Intersectional Justice(CIJ), a Berlin-based organization whose mission is to infuse an intersectional approach in social justice movements in Europe. DICE Conference + Festival is a three-day event which provides a platform for artists with inventive artistic visions, who are socially conscious, and who are shaping the future. The program includes workshops, panels, lectures and live performances featuring female, trans, and non-binary artists and speakers. We aim to nurture a vibrant independent community, providing essential support systems as well as serving as a catalyst for artistic growth. Podcast theme by Elie Gregory, featuring Sanni Est

Drag Saves Lives: Femme + Non-Binary Representation in Drag. Panel Discussion with Martini Cherry, Olympia Bukkakis, Adrian Blount (Goddx Noirphiles), Maria Salwasser (Mascha), moderated by PANSY Drag has been performed for centuries in Berlin, flourishing especially in the '20s and '30s between the world wars, hand in hand with the city's provocative cabarets. Built on its long history of queer culture, Berlin today is home to one of the most vibrant drag scenes in the world. Many performers find a stage to express themselves and a supporting community regardless of their identities. Drag performances in this city are unapologetic, bold and political. Moderated by the legendary Pansy, Drag Saves Lives will speak with superstars of the Berlin drag scene- Martini Cherry, Olympia Bukkakis, Adrian Blount (Goddx Noirphiles) and Maria Salwasser (Mascha) - about how to make drag more accessible to young performers and inclusive to all communities. Moving beyond the discussions of what drag is and who is allowed to do it, we will talk about the art form as a method of empowerment for everyone who is willing to break boundaries and embrace inclusion. PANSY MARTINI CHERRY OLYMPIA BUKAKIS ADRIAN BLOUNT (GODDX NOIRPHILES) MARIA SALWASSER (MASCHA) Venue: Böhmischer Kirchensaal DICE Conference + Festival is a three-day event which provides a platform for artists with inventive artistic visions, who are socially conscious, and who are shaping the future. The program includes workshops, panels, lectures and live performances featuring female, trans, and non-binary artists and speakers. We aim to nurture a vibrant independent community, providing essential support systems as well as serving as a catalyst for artistic growth. Podcast theme by Elie Gregory, featuring Sanni Est