About

What?

ERASE is a digital festival and conference on the poetics and politics of erasure. It is a hybrid event, taking place online and on-site. It blends the festival and conference format to showcase commissioned video presentations of creative works, and to contribute to a critical debate on the theme of erasure. ERASE invites international guests to reflect on how the poetic, literary, and artistic practices of erasure relate to wider discussion on aesthetics, technology, and politics.

ERASE brings together poets, artists, and critics from Angola, Chile, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Portugal, Taiwan, and the United States. The participants include Florian Cramer, Tammy Lai-Ming Ho, Daniel C. Howe, Hung Hung, Raquel Lima, Bruno Ministro, Winnie Soon, Carlos Soto-Román, and Juliana Spahr.

ERASE is curated by Álvaro Seiça and designed by Manufactura Independente.

When?

September 20-24, 2021

Where?

Online launch: erase.artdel.net

1 video with reviews launched every day at 7 am GMT+2

  • Day 1: Monday, September 20
    Raquel Lima's video reviewed by Juliana Spahr and Bruno Ministro

  • Day 2: Tuesday, September 21
    Daniel C. Howe's video reviewed by Florian Cramer

  • Day 3: Wednesday, September 22
    Winnie Soon's video reviewed by Florian Cramer and Tammy Lai-Ming Ho

  • Day 4: Thursday, September 23
    Carlos Soto-Román's video reviewed by Bruno Ministro and Juliana Spahr

  • Day 5: Friday, September 24
    Hung Hung's video reviewed by Tammy Lai-Ming Ho

Screenings: Bergen, Norway

Throughout opening hours, the videos will be played on several screens at:

Who?

Guests
  • Artists: Daniel C. Howe, Hung Hung, Raquel Lima, Winnie Soon, Carlos Soto-Román
  • Critics: Florian Cramer, Tammy Lai-Ming Ho, Bruno Ministro, Juliana Spahr
Organization
  • Curator and editor: Álvaro Seiça
  • Design and website programming: Manufactura Independente

ERASE is curated by writer and researcher Álvaro Seiça, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow at the University of Bergen. It is a part of the European Commission-funded project “The Art of Deleting.”

How?

The poets and artists Daniel C. Howe, Hung Hung, Raquel Lima, Winnie Soon, and Carlos Soto-Román present videos on their work that employs signs, marks, or techniques of erasure as a means of engaging with past and present sociopolitical issues. They weave together visual and literary forms of erasure in such diverse geographical and cultural locations as Chile, China, Portugal, São Tomé e Príncipe, Taiwan, and the United States.

In response to the artists’ videos, critics Florian Cramer, Tammy Lai-Ming Ho, Bruno Ministro, and Juliana Spahr deliver short reviews for the ERASE website.

Who responds to whom?

  • Bruno Ministro and Juliana Spahr respond to Raquel Lima and Carlos Soto-Román.
  • Florian Cramer responds to Daniel C. Howe.
  • Florian Cramer and Tammy Lai-Ming Ho respond to Winnie Soon.
  • Tammy Lai-Ming Ho responds to Hung Hung.

The main goal of this pairing of artists with critics is to articulate different perspectives, and to foster comparative analysis at the end of the ERASE event. All guests are contributing to a forthcoming essay anthology based on this exchange of ideas and knowledge.