CORRUPT
a three-part experimental writing workshop on rurality and post-socialist belonging
November ‘25
This workshop invites people with connections or interest in rural places to explore the quiet, often-unspoken forms of intimacy, solidarity, and refusal that shape post-socialist rural life.
Over three sessions (4 hours each), we move from theory to text to making: theoretical and social prompts drawn from Eastern European and queer feminist thinking inform the writing exercises; we develop those texts through editing and feedback; and finally, we make a small collective publication (zine) that captures the work and methods we’ve tested.
No prior experience required, lunch included (vegetarian, vegan on request), donation-based or free to attend. Language: english, romanian, basic dutch. Accessibility note: venues are not wheelchair accessible.
Drop me a text at:writing.rural.relations@gmail.com
Priority given to those who can attend all 3 sessions. Research supported by CBK Rotterdam.
The title CORRUPT is borrowed from Veda Popovici’s essay “Solidarity in Illegality: How the Corrupt East Is Already a Queer East” which uses notions of corruption as a way to describe the informal, affective, and often invisible solidarities that sustain life beyond state or capitalist logics.
SCHEDULE
-
Session 1: Sunday 2nd November (10.30 - 14.30)— at
Session 2: Sunday 9th November (10.30 - 14.30) — at
Session 3: Friday 12th December (10.30 - 14.30) — at
About the venues:
KIOSK Bookshop
KIOSK Rotterdam is a bookshop, (riso) print workshop, and Multi Tool Press. The selection hosts radical/critical theory, fiction, poetry and self-publishing practices.
Made possible by a financial contribution from CBK Rotterdam
writing, rural, east europe, post-socialism, workshop
Over three sessions (4 hours each), we move from theory to text to making: theoretical and social prompts drawn from Eastern European and queer feminist thinking inform the writing exercises; we develop those texts through editing and feedback; and finally, we make a small collective publication (zine) that captures the work and methods we’ve tested.
No prior experience required, lunch included (vegetarian, vegan on request), donation-based or free to attend. Language: english, romanian, basic dutch. Accessibility note: venues are not wheelchair accessible.
Drop me a text at:
writing.rural.relations@gmail.com
Priority given to those who can attend all 3 sessions. Research supported by CBK Rotterdam.
The title CORRUPT is borrowed from Veda Popovici’s essay “Solidarity in Illegality: How the Corrupt East Is Already a Queer East” which uses notions of corruption as a way to describe the informal, affective, and often invisible solidarities that sustain life beyond state or capitalist logics.
SCHEDULE
-Session 1: Sunday 2nd November (10.30 - 14.30)— at
WET, Rotterdam
Introduces 3–4 theoretical prompts (examples: post-socialist subjectivities, corruption, quiet resistance, fugitive intimacies) through short readings and conversation to open writing prompts.Session 2: Sunday 9th November (10.30 - 14.30) — at
WET, Rotterdam
Peer-editing and development session using editorial exercises to deepen drafts.Session 3: Friday 12th December (10.30 - 14.30) — at
Kiosk Rotterdam, Rotterdam
Hands-on making session: layout, folding, and simple binding to produce a small-run riso zine.About the venues:
WET
WET is a Rotterdam-based collective and project space for artists’ moving image, founded in 2019 by Marta Hryniuk, Erika Roux, Anna Łuczak, Nick Thomas and Sophie Bates. WET is a platform for public events, with a focus on artworks which challenge existing orthodoxies and propose alternative perspectives, and supports the production of moving image works.KIOSK Bookshop
KIOSK Rotterdam is a bookshop, (riso) print workshop, and Multi Tool Press. The selection hosts radical/critical theory, fiction, poetry and self-publishing practices.Made possible by a financial contribution from CBK Rotterdam
writing, rural, east europe, post-socialism, workshop
Writing Queer Ruralities
June ‘25
What forms of kinship, solidarity, and refusal live in rural post-socialist spaces? How do migration, memory, and diasporic attachments shape belonging beyond dominant narratives of tradition, nostalgia, or progress?
writing, rural, post-socialism
writing, rural, post-socialism
I am looking at her looking at them looking at me
January ‘22
60' Audiowalk
This audio walk - part fiction, part fact, part memories and abstractions - is set between Romania and the Netherlands, as well as the places the listener walks through as they listen to the three sonic chapters.
I was interested in how stories of seasonal work abroad give shape to the landscape, the architecture, the habits, the food and the conversations in the village of my childhood summers. It might sound personal, it is definitely not uncommon.
Documentation of the research in the Netherlands and Romania was presented during the Seasonal Neighbors exhibition Our Invisible Hands (2020) in Z33 Museum, BE.
writing, rural, audiowalk
I was interested in how stories of seasonal work abroad give shape to the landscape, the architecture, the habits, the food and the conversations in the village of my childhood summers. It might sound personal, it is definitely not uncommon.
Documentation of the research in the Netherlands and Romania was presented during the Seasonal Neighbors exhibition Our Invisible Hands (2020) in Z33 Museum, BE.
writing, rural, audiowalk
Seasonal Matters Rural Relation
(Field)notes on rhythms, rituals and cohabitation
June ‘24
What if we reconsider contemporary rural challenges through relationships rather than oppositions? Based on seasonal work experiences, Seasonal Matters Rural Relations delves into the realm of contemporary agriculture and European labour migration.
Through a variety of discursive formats, ranging from essays and interviews to drawings and recipes, this book explores the socio-political implications on rhythms, rituals, and cohabitation in Europe's countryside. Seasonal Matters Rural Relations encourages a layered conversation between agricultural workers, engaged citizens, artists, and designers.
With contributions by: Claire Chassot, Jonathan De Maeyer, Anastasia Eggers, Fernando Garcia-Dory (Inland), Ciel Grommen, Pia Jacques, Carolien Lubberhuizen, Ioana Lupascu, Sébastian Marot, Karolina Michalik, Yacinth Pos, Caroline Profanter, Maximiliaan Royakkers, Ines Marita Schaerer, Arnd Spahn, Mona Thijs and Ewoud Vermote. Editor: Anastasia Eggers, Ils Huygens Author: Seasonal Neighbours Graphic: Bonsma & Reist Publisher: Onomatopee
writing, rural, book
Through a variety of discursive formats, ranging from essays and interviews to drawings and recipes, this book explores the socio-political implications on rhythms, rituals, and cohabitation in Europe's countryside. Seasonal Matters Rural Relations encourages a layered conversation between agricultural workers, engaged citizens, artists, and designers.
With contributions by: Claire Chassot, Jonathan De Maeyer, Anastasia Eggers, Fernando Garcia-Dory (Inland), Ciel Grommen, Pia Jacques, Carolien Lubberhuizen, Ioana Lupascu, Sébastian Marot, Karolina Michalik, Yacinth Pos, Caroline Profanter, Maximiliaan Royakkers, Ines Marita Schaerer, Arnd Spahn, Mona Thijs and Ewoud Vermote. Editor: Anastasia Eggers, Ils Huygens Author: Seasonal Neighbours Graphic: Bonsma & Reist Publisher: Onomatopee
writing, rural, book
