Symposium

This year’s symposium of the International Womnxs’ Theater Festival 2026 is dedicated to feminist democracy in art, theater, activism, and academia. We see democracy as a promise and a hope: it is a promise that those affected by a decision have the right to participate equally in shaping it, regardless of their differences and backgrounds. It is the hope that, in a democratic society, conflicts can be resolved peacefully and that freedom, equality, and solidarity can serve as guiding principles for living together.
International and local artists, academics, and activists are invited to share their experiences, methods, and perspectives and bring them into dialogue. In particular, we ask how feminist democratic practices can be shaped in art, academia, and activism, how they work in and through our bodies, and how different practices can inspire one another. Particular attention is given to the visibility of BIPoC womxn and other marginalized groups on and behind the stage, in activism, and in academia.
As in previous years, we are looking for ways to transform the patriarchal, Eurocentric narrative of theater-making by engaging with a multitude of feminist voices and creating solidary connections collectively. One focus is on the exchange between different generations about experiences of the stage as a performative space for an anti-racist, queer_feminist, and democratic utopia for society.

We explore the following questions:

• • What does feminist democracy mean to us? How does it take shape in our practices? 
  • What challenges and ambiguities do we experience when striving to establish feminist democratic practices in our work?
  • Do feminist democratic practices differ in academia, activism, and art? Which contexts inhibit and which enable feminist democratic practice?
    
  • What can we learn from one another about feminist democratic practices? How can we learn from one another?
  • What experiences and knowledge do colonized, gendered, and racialized bodies, as well as intergenerational perspectives, bring to feminist democratic practices?

Over the course of two days, panel discussions, talks, interactive workshops, and performances will take place.

On the first day, we ask how feminist democratic practices can be shaped, particularly in the context of AI and the rise of anti-democratic and anti-feminist forces. On the second day, we focus on practices of care and solidarity.

Contributors

• Nicol Rivera: Performative Research and Technofeminist Perspectives
• Darbyn Luisa Kalkuhl: „The Unknown Flesh“ Welches Wissen generiert KI über Geschlechtervielfalt?
• Johanna Leinius: Queer_feminist democracy and the rise of authoritarianism
• Paula Helm:  Rendering Vulnerability: AI and the Infrastructures of Recognition 
• Elisa Müller: Producing Parent-Friendly Content and Collaborating with Caregivers in the Performing Arts
• Franzy Deutscher und Annalena Maas: Intimitätskoordination auf der Bühne.
• Bárbara Luci Carvalho, künstlerische Leiterin des IF*TF, protagon e.V.
• Regina Busch, Vorstand, La-Prof Hessen e.V. und Pro Quote Bühne e.V.
• Helen Varley Jamieson, Theatermacherin, The Magdalena Project
• Amara Kurdischer Frauenrat
• Andrea Keppler, Frauen*- und Mädchen*kultursprecherin, Frauenreferat Stadt Frankfurt am Main
  

Languages: Englisch/Deutsch

Further Contributors:

… are artists from the festival and anyone who feels that their voices should be heard in this context – who is interested in exploring (queer_)feminist practices together.

… allies and anyone interested are warmly invited to listen, reflect, and ask questions.

Registration by 18th September 2026 at info@iftf-frankfurt.com

in cooperation with Take Care! – Festival of Solidarity and Resistance

A project by Frauenreferates Frankfurt