This workshop investigated the act of coming out.

At the beginning of every public change there is a coming out. Whether it is about sexuality, faith, illness, a dissident political conviction, the desire to die, the showing of a work of art or the expression of a stupid thought. People go out, to come out. They cross the boundary of shame. Expose themselves, give themselves a voice, spoken, written, whispered, ruffled or with a deliberate silence. Exhibit their body. Make themselves visible, criticisable, attackable—in short: vulnerable. But that vulnerability also undergoes a re-evaluation through this act of sharing. It suddenly turns from a supposed deficiency into an ability: Vulner-ability! The ability to be vulnerable, attackable and mortal.

The workshop examined the interrelation between the act of coming-out, documentarism and vulnerability. How is it related to reality and the structural as well as legal violence that it is constituted by? Nikitin shared his theatre work, and participants were encouraged to share their vulner-abilities. Rather than a top-down approach, the workshop was discursive—where collectively and through dialogue the participants discussed the idea of sharing their "truth" in public.

STARTING REALITIES

↑↓

Revolution of the Vulnerable

Boris Nikitin  •  26th–28th July 2019

This workshop investigated the act of coming out.

At the beginning of every public change there is a coming out. Whether it is about sexuality, faith, illness, a dissident political conviction, the desire to die, the showing of a work of art or the expression of a stupid thought. People go out, to come out. They cross the boundary of shame. Expose themselves, give themselves a voice, spoken, written, whispered, ruffled or with a deliberate silence. Exhibit their body. Make themselves visible, criticisable, attackable—in short: vulnerable. But that vulnerability also undergoes a re-evaluation through this act of sharing. It suddenly turns from a supposed deficiency into an ability: Vulner-ability! The ability to be vulnerable, attackable and mortal.

The workshop examined the interrelation between the act of coming-out, documentarism and vulnerability. How is it related to reality and the structural as well as legal violence that it is constituted by? Nikitin shared his theatre work, and participants were encouraged to share their vulner-abilities. Rather than a top-down approach, the workshop was discursive—where collectively and through dialogue the participants discussed the idea of sharing their "truth" in public.