Studio for Memory Politics
From left to right: Angela Wittwer, Vera Ryser, Aziz Sohail, Sandev Handy.
Photo: Abdul Halik Azeez
Studio for Memory Politics is a transdisciplinary collective of cultural practitioners engaging in long-term projects that foster a shared language to address and complicate global power dynamics and memory politics.
Threads of Connection
Long-Term Relationships
The collective is committed to sustainable collaborations, embarking on journeys of slow research with artists and cultural workers. This long-term approach, grounded in trust and friendship, fosters relationships that enhance understanding of shared histories and contemporary realities.
Archives as the Base for Research
Archives serve as a crucial base for the studio's endeavors, facilitating critical engagement with historical narratives. Within this framework, both the archive itself and research as methodology are understood as fluid and open to experimentation, allowing for the pushing of boundaries.
Collaboration Across Space and Time
The studio brings together artists, curators, and researchers to explore the complexities of memory politics through various methodologies, including experimental, trans-oceanic, multilingual, and multi-epistemological approaches. Our work begins through encounters – stories, memories, objects, letters, or speculations – which we follow to uncover deeper connections across space and time.
De-nationalizing Discourses
In a world characterized by binaries such as Global North/Global South and Colony/Empire, the collective acknowledges the inherent blurriness of these proclaimed divisions. By considering our work through proximity and interconnectedness, we reveal how what may appear to be distant geographies are in fact interlinked. This de-nationalizing approach allows us to engage critically with colonial and postcolonial histories.
The resulting projects may unfold in various formats – exhibitions, publications, symposia, and other forms – serving as means of dispersal that challenge existing narratives and foster new dialogues. Ultimately, the collective aims to overcome the challenges posed by the current postcolonial moment by fostering trust, friendship, and shared inquiry.
Werkstatt für Erinnerungspolitik
Vera Ryser (left) and Sally Schonfeldt.
Photo: Flavio Karrer
Studio for Memory Politics was founded as Werkstatt für Erinnerungspolitik in 2016 by Swiss curator Vera Ryser and Swiss-Australian artist Sally Schonfeldt.
Evolution of the Collective
Active as a duo from 2016 to 2020, the practice of Vera Ryser and Sally Schonfeldt evolved around memory politics, focusing on the critical intersection of socio-political narratives and decolonial discourses in Switzerland. They collaborated with various artists, historians, and experts to create dynamic exhibition formats that challenge prevailing narratives.
In 2022, the collective expanded and reformulated, now consisting of four active members: Angela Wittwer (Jakarta/Zurich), Aziz Sohail (Karachi/Melbourne), Sandev Handy (Colombo), and Vera Ryser (Zurich). The new formation carries on the legacy of the Werkstatt für Erinnerungspolitik while emphasizing translocal and de-national approaches.
In 2022, the collective expanded and reformulated, now consisting of four active members: Angela Wittwer (Jakarta/Zurich), Aziz Sohail (Karachi/Melbourne), Sandev Handy (Colombo), and Vera Ryser (Zurich). The new formation carries on the legacy of the Werkstatt für Erinnerungspolitik while emphasizing translocal and de-national approaches.
Current Caretakers
Studio for Memory Politics is supported by:
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