“Only we, the people together, can inhabit the world differently. We are not united by the illusion of saving the world but defending life, binding ourselves to the territory through relationships of reciprocity.”
In a future where queer leadership holds the seat of power, Emmelhainz speculates on the structures of governance needed for a revolutionary, horizontal, Earth-centred territory. She addresses a nationless public as a reluctant leader—spearheading an exit from extractivist capitalism, and reimagining what participatory democracy can look like.
“Artists-in-Presidents” is initiated by Constance Hockaday, curated by Christine Shaw, and commissioned by The Blackwood (University of Toronto Mississauga). Podcast production by Vocal Fry.
Transmissions are released every Friday from August 6–December 17, 2021. To view the portrait gallery, access ASL videos and transcripts, and for additional information about the project, visit www.artistsinpresidents.com and www.blackwoodgallery.ca.
Irmgard Emmelhainz is an independent translator, writer and researcher based in Anahuac Valley (Mexico City). Her work about film, the Palestine Question, art, culture and neoliberalism has been translated to many languages and presented at an array of international venues. Her book in Spanish, The Tyranny of Common Sense: Mexico’s Neoliberal Conversion (2016), is currently being translated to English to be published by SUNY Press. She has also published the books The Sky is Incomplete: Travel Chronicles in Palestine with Taurus Mexico (2017) and Jean-Luc Godard’s Political Filmmaking with Palgrave Macmillan (2019). Also forthcoming is Toxic Loves, Impossible Futures: Feminist Lives as Resistance with Vanderbilt University Press.
Photo: Lake Verea