“Bodies, un-protected” was initiated by Mousonturm and curator Sandra Noeth before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out – an experience that has placed the question of what various different bodies need to be considered worth protecting or receive protection at the centre of our society. At the same time, the lengthy history of structural racism and discrimination and current disputes about sexism, colonialism and ableism make it clear how urgently the protection of bodies needs to be negotiated across national and disciplinary boundaries: which bodies are worth protecting (to us)? Which bodies receive our support as individuals and as a community? Which bodies are able to appear on their own behalf, together with their specific needs and requirements, rather than purely as representatives of an often anonymous, stereotypical collective?

For ten months, international artists and experts in political science, migration research, psychoanalysis and philosophy have investigated how bodies, aesthetics and social action are linked and devised artistic works and research projects together. Anchored in their specific realities of life and work, they have examined how the physical and symbolic protection, legal status and ethnic recognition of bodies are connected with how we translate them into images, words, experiences and movements.
To conclude “Bodies, un-protected”, the results of this process will be presented in a five-day programme at Mousonturm. Supplemented by workshops, talks and exchange formats, the forum offers the opportunity to highlight how protection is distributed unevenly from diverse perspectives: to pass on questions, try out strategies and practices and to keep our wounds open in order to learn from and with the experiences of others.