black_stories eine sammlung
FAQ

Q: What is the Black_Lab?

A: The Black_Lab is an artistic workspace for proud Black People of Color.

“Freedom is a constant struggle.” – Angela Davis.

the Black_lab is a queer_feminist space for emancipatory and performative experiments, actions, activist projects, radical black_empowerment as well as self-determination. It is loud, jarring, uncomfortable and at times quiet, contemplative and withdrawn.the Black_lab critically deliberates and examines social relations, as well as individual behavior.

“The Master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” – Audre Lorde, from Sister Outsider

the Black_lab is an artist’s workroom for sensual bewilderment and laziness. Moreover, a catalyst for transformative rage. the Black_lab is an experimental arrangement for understanding and love.

“Without Community, there is no liberation.” – Audre Lorde

Within the Black_lab we celebrate and respect our multiplicity with the knowledge that we all carry a shared vulnerability rooted in a common experience. The Black_lab is a walk-in laboratory for play- and thoughtful bipoc.

 

 

Q: what is the pop up Archive?

A: The pop archive is an opportunity to collect Black stories in all forms that pertain to life in Switzerland. We are asking for your contribution, your memories, your day-to-day life, your biography, your individual story, your passion for detail. EVERY BLACK VOICE MATTERS

 

 

Q: What do I have to do?

A: You can either submit us stories or photos online, or you can come by to our Black Base Camp at Theater Gessnerallee, Nordflügel. The address is Gessneralle 8, 8001 Zürich. You can be interviewed for a video or audio entry into the archive, or submit one without the help of an interviewer. You can let us take a photo of you. You can submit pictures or film from your own life per email or through the website link. You can come and type some thoughts on our Black_storywriter old school typewriter. You can just come for a coffee and some good conversation. You can come for a nap.

 

Q: When is the Archive open?

A: The Archive is open as of March 5th through March 12th, from 12-8pm every day.  Sunday March 8th the Archive is closed for International Woman’s day.

 

Q: What happens to the material once I have submitted it to the Archive?

A: At the moment we are at the beginning of the archival process. Our main desire is to simply collect. At a later date we hope to be able to make an official archival site where the information can be accessed as public knowledge, but never used for profit.

 

Q: I can’t make it to the Archival center. Can I send something in?

A: of course you are more than welcome to send us your contribution per email. You can send us stuff to our email address which is black.lab.switzerland@gmail.com@gmail.com

 

 

Q: What should I send or contribute?

A: You are free to send us whatever you like! It could be a sound clip of you telling a story (for example the first memory of recognizing you were black), a photo, a music recording, a flyer, a performance, a class photo….really its up to you what you’d like to archive, but if you need ideas just contact us!

Please make sure the following information is included:

Your Name

Email Address/Telephone

Date submitted info was created.

People included in the submitted info (First and Last Name PLEASE!)

Location where submitted info was taken/created/recorded

Short text explaining what the submission is about.

 

 

Q: How do I get in touch with you?

A: black.lab.switzerland@gmail.com@gmail.com or come by Gessnerallee!

 

Q: Why are only Black People of Color allowed in the archival space?

A: History has proven time and time again that people’s stories are not archived properly, nor truthfully, when said people do not feel truly safe to tell their stories. Therefore both the archival process and the closing party event are for Black People of Color only.

 

Q: How do I know if I am a Person of Color?

A: “People of color explicitly suggests a social relationship among racial and ethnic minority groups. … [It is] is a term most often used outside of traditional academic circles, often infused by activist frameworks, but it is slowly replacing terms such as racial and ethnic minorities. … In the United States in particular, there is a trajectory to the term — from more derogatory terms such as negroes, to colored, to people of color. … People of color is, however it is viewed, a political term, but it is also a term that allows for a more complex set of identity for the individual — a relational one that is in constant flux.”

Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity and Society

 POC Definition AUF DEUTSCH

POC DEFINITION VIDEO