False and other witnesses
Making human right claims, or contesting and addressing human rights violations, depends of evidence. It might seem as if the biggest problem with evidence is its suppression, absence, or falsity – erasure, censorship, coverups, denial, lying, and the like.
Today, and in fact for a long time, perpetrators have not been shy about publicizing their actions. In Ukraine, Russian soldiers leave behind graffiti in destroyed villages proclaiming, mockingly, “it doesn’t count as a war crime if you had fun,” and an Israeli cabinet minister complains that “nobody will let us cause 2 million civilians to die of hunger, even though it might be justified and moral, until our hostages are returned.” The announcement, and even the live-streaming, of genocide or crimes against humanity does not seem to be an obstacle to their commission.
Human rights will be the focal points when Professor and scholar at Bard College, Thomas Keenan presents a talk followed by a conversation with artist Banu Cennetoğlu, whose exhibition BEING SAFE IS SCARY is currently on view. Here they will ask about the limits of mainstream interpretations of the discourse of human rights, about the apparent necessity of waiting around for evidence and then waiting around for trials.
What sorts of responses are possible when evidence of atrocities is as close as your mobile phone? Are there other, more urgent or effective ways of listening, watching, and responding? Political responses are required, but the realm of the political seems to be monopolized by state, militia, and corporate power. Who can act in the face or horror: civilians seem to have everything they need in the way of knowledge, but what sorts of tools are available to intervene in the order of reality?
About the participants:
Banu Cennetoğlu (b. 1970, Ankara) has exhibited at prestigious international shows, including Documenta 14, the Liverpool Biennial, the Gwangju Biennial, the Istanbul Biennial and the Berlin Biennial. She represented Turkey alongside Ahmet Öğüt at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009
Thomas Keenan is Professor of Comparative Literature at Bard College, New York, where he directs the Human Rights Project and teaches human rights, media, and critical theory. He serves on the advisory board of Forensic Architecture, is the author of Fables of Responsibility (Stanford UP, 1997); and, with Eyal Weizman, Mengele’s Skull (Sternberg, 2012).
The talk will be in English.
Practical information
The ticket includes admission on the same day for our current exhibitions.
