Can erotic writing become a place for decolonial and feminist exploration?
Am I Evil? is a collective exploration of the intersection between desire and colonialist cultures, unfolding through erotic autofictional writing. The figure of trader and collector Jeanne Walschot serves as a starting point to critically observe how whiteness operates. The project uses a peer-to-peer editing method and nourishes itself with the collection of research questions, resonances, and notes.
The written texts form an archive in constant growth. Not less importantly we foster an active dialogue not only with participants but also with invited guest writers and mentors who, in almost every edition of the projectn gift us with decolonial practices and exercises we add to the Am I Evil? toolkit.
This way the project turns itself into a living archive of practices in continous construction.
Am I Evil? is a collective exploration of the intersection between desire and colonialist cultures, unfolding through erotic autofictional writing. The figure of trader and collector Jeanne Walschot serves as a starting point to critically observe how whiteness operates. The project uses a peer-to-peer editing method and nourishes itself with the collection of research questions, resonances, and notes.
The written texts form an archive in constant growth. Not less importantly we foster an active dialogue not only with participants but also with invited guest writers and mentors who, in almost every edition of the projectn gift us with decolonial practices and exercises we add to the Am I Evil? toolkit.
This way the project turns itself into a living archive of practices in continous construction.
Curatorship: Simone Basani and Alice Ciresola
Invited mentors: Els Moors, Ubah Ali Farah
Guests writers: Gabriela Wiener, Sulaiman Addonia
Writers: Maite Vanthournout, Tess Van Deynse, Massimiliano Doni, Jordy Spyt, Ann Bellemans, Mieke Stessens, KimmeTigra, Mario Vanhuylenbrouck, Yanne Ryon, Ian Maene, Diana Duta, Astrophysicist69, Dirk Elst, Alice Ciresola, Loeke Vanhoutteghem, H. de S., Lore D. Selys, Roger Fähndrich, Maria Amparo / Maite Vanthournout, Els Moors, Massimiliano Doni, Adele A., Annemie Craeye, Alessandra Luisa Cozzi, Anna Laura Penna, Blanca Zamperini, Eris Previtali, Gaia Finotello, Giulia Longoni, Laura Azzali, Raffaella Menchetti, Joris Echezier, Lucy Guarinoni, Anna Laura Penna, Hanna De Grave Loyson, Linde Moreel, Kika, Arachine, Loes, Rosemarie, Juliette, Ode, Emanuel, Helena, Bazil, Shereen Alheidary, Ivan Azazian, Femke Beeckman, Noah Desmet, Fara Renaud, Sascha Reunes, Jana Vandyck, Thanitsorn Verschueren, Anna Vinkele, Mohammad Zalbak, Lucas Vandersmissen, Anne Ballon, o.m.g overdijk, Dvora Ru, Jule Köpke, Anastasia Hadjipapa-McCammon, Sadrie Alves, Alex S., Lara Muslera, Margot Delaet, Constant, Phyllis Dierick, H. de S., Margot De Grave Loyson, Ellen Gillard, Tamar Levit, iPhone de cash express, .tif
Lecture-performance as workshop introduction: Roger Fähndrich
Invited mentors: Els Moors, Ubah Ali Farah
Guests writers: Gabriela Wiener, Sulaiman Addonia
Writers: Maite Vanthournout, Tess Van Deynse, Massimiliano Doni, Jordy Spyt, Ann Bellemans, Mieke Stessens, KimmeTigra, Mario Vanhuylenbrouck, Yanne Ryon, Ian Maene, Diana Duta, Astrophysicist69, Dirk Elst, Alice Ciresola, Loeke Vanhoutteghem, H. de S., Lore D. Selys, Roger Fähndrich, Maria Amparo / Maite Vanthournout, Els Moors, Massimiliano Doni, Adele A., Annemie Craeye, Alessandra Luisa Cozzi, Anna Laura Penna, Blanca Zamperini, Eris Previtali, Gaia Finotello, Giulia Longoni, Laura Azzali, Raffaella Menchetti, Joris Echezier, Lucy Guarinoni, Anna Laura Penna, Hanna De Grave Loyson, Linde Moreel, Kika, Arachine, Loes, Rosemarie, Juliette, Ode, Emanuel, Helena, Bazil, Shereen Alheidary, Ivan Azazian, Femke Beeckman, Noah Desmet, Fara Renaud, Sascha Reunes, Jana Vandyck, Thanitsorn Verschueren, Anna Vinkele, Mohammad Zalbak, Lucas Vandersmissen, Anne Ballon, o.m.g overdijk, Dvora Ru, Jule Köpke, Anastasia Hadjipapa-McCammon, Sadrie Alves, Alex S., Lara Muslera, Margot Delaet, Constant, Phyllis Dierick, H. de S., Margot De Grave Loyson, Ellen Gillard, Tamar Levit, iPhone de cash express, .tif
Lecture-performance as workshop introduction: Roger Fähndrich
Can erotic writing be a place for decolonial and feminist exploration in an individual and collective dimension?
How could one embrace the tools of erotic writing to unveil, investigate and question power processes of colonisation, discrimination, nanoracism, marginalization, exoticization, abuse and seduction from diverse perspectives?
These questions are at the core of the Am I Evil? research process writers of all sorts are invited to embark upon. On this journey the group of writers is guided to research through fictional, auto-fictional and in som cases auto-theoretical erotic writing in order to investigate their own desire, and how this relates to the so-called “Other” and the “Unknown”.
PROCESS & METHODOLOGY/IES
Am I Evil? process starts off with an introduction by Simone Basani and Alice Ciresola or Roger Fahndrich about the legacy of Jeanne Walschot, the first white female dealer and collector of ‘African art’ as Wikipedia states nowadays, active in Brussels from 1920s. Even if nowadays the name of Jeanne Walschot is still unknown to a wider audience, she, self-proclaimed guru of African cultures who never went to Africa, contributed importantly to various World Fairs, taking care of realizing most of the displays presenting the objects from the ‘Belgian’ Congo.
The self-narration created by Mrs. Walschot works efficiently as a starting point to start exploring the way Western cultures desire and marginalize the “Other”, and how (the construction of) whiteness operates in this.
Immediately after the introduction or the following day the workshop participants introduce themselves following a context-specific invitation made by the curators.
The following sessions are dedicated to collective readings of texts produced during the previous editions of Am I Evil?. Plus other ones written by feminist-decolonial scholars, writers, and curators like Gloria Wekker, Gabriela Wiener, Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Toni Morrison, among others. All writers busy in different ways with deconstructing and analyzing how whiteness constantly produces itself through what the Am I Evil? team calls ‘the Western Touch’, a touch that operates at the intersection between colonization and erotic desire. This creates the research ground to dive into writing exercises, practices and techniques. These are all conceived to let the participants follow their interests and feelings when it comes to choosing among pure fictional, autofictional, autobiographical or autotheorical.
For Am I Evil? is very important to guide and support the participants who wish to explore the most complex parts of their life experience connected with the project topics, as much as creating real comfort and ease for the ones who cannot fully access a deep exploration process in this moment of their lives This exploration is highly personal, and its intensity can vary a lot depending on the subjectivity involved in it, therefore usually the final outcomes of the workshop are individual texts.
Els Moors (NL/EN) or Ubah Ali Farah (IT/EN) and Simone Basani facilitate together all the sessions focused on writing. During those sessions the group is invited to work in an individual dimension in the beginning, and more in a collective one towards the end of the journey. The research of the group crosses also performative approaches to text and writing, including collective ‘guided tours’ (if there is time enough) and self-recording sound scores.
An important decolonial aspect of Am I Evil? is the transmission of practices and exercises, always keeping in mind the ethical dimension of such a practice-based research. Am I Evil? has received exercises conceived specifically for its journey by artists and writers, and creates other ones ex novo or inspired by already existing ones.
The way this is done is shared with the group of participants as well. The main methodology shaping the collective part of the process is one of radical mutual re-writing. This is a method that allows participants to stay in dialogue with each other through actual (auto)fictional writing, without giving unrequested feedback or formulating opinions about the quality of the writing. Each participant receives at least one rewritten version of their texts and produces at least one rewritten version of another text.
The writing process aims at having a shareable text for each participant as outcome. Each writer decides if they want to make it public outside of the workshop group, or not. If there is time, energy, and budget available, it is possible to realize a small printed booklet but this means obviously that the texts get finalized (or crystallized in a form that the authors can accept) and a minimum of proofreading work is required. In any case the workshop ends with a public sharing moment where the texts are published ‘performatively’: read or shared via recordings, actions, installation through scripts or scores shared during the workshop.
For an edition the workshop trajectory needs to be made of six half days minimum, better if not in a row + final sharing moment For spin-offs that activates only some of the writing-performative tools of Am I Evil?, the trajectory can be shorter.
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![workshop in Kortrijk, 2022]()
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![workshop in Kortrijk, 2022]()
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![workshop in Kortrijk, 2022]()
![workshop in Kortrijk, 2022]()
![workshop in Kortrijk, 2022]()
![public presentation, Memento festival, 2023]()
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How could one embrace the tools of erotic writing to unveil, investigate and question power processes of colonisation, discrimination, nanoracism, marginalization, exoticization, abuse and seduction from diverse perspectives?
These questions are at the core of the Am I Evil? research process writers of all sorts are invited to embark upon. On this journey the group of writers is guided to research through fictional, auto-fictional and in som cases auto-theoretical erotic writing in order to investigate their own desire, and how this relates to the so-called “Other” and the “Unknown”.
PROCESS & METHODOLOGY/IES
Am I Evil? process starts off with an introduction by Simone Basani and Alice Ciresola or Roger Fahndrich about the legacy of Jeanne Walschot, the first white female dealer and collector of ‘African art’ as Wikipedia states nowadays, active in Brussels from 1920s. Even if nowadays the name of Jeanne Walschot is still unknown to a wider audience, she, self-proclaimed guru of African cultures who never went to Africa, contributed importantly to various World Fairs, taking care of realizing most of the displays presenting the objects from the ‘Belgian’ Congo.The self-narration created by Mrs. Walschot works efficiently as a starting point to start exploring the way Western cultures desire and marginalize the “Other”, and how (the construction of) whiteness operates in this.
Immediately after the introduction or the following day the workshop participants introduce themselves following a context-specific invitation made by the curators.
The following sessions are dedicated to collective readings of texts produced during the previous editions of Am I Evil?. Plus other ones written by feminist-decolonial scholars, writers, and curators like Gloria Wekker, Gabriela Wiener, Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Toni Morrison, among others. All writers busy in different ways with deconstructing and analyzing how whiteness constantly produces itself through what the Am I Evil? team calls ‘the Western Touch’, a touch that operates at the intersection between colonization and erotic desire. This creates the research ground to dive into writing exercises, practices and techniques. These are all conceived to let the participants follow their interests and feelings when it comes to choosing among pure fictional, autofictional, autobiographical or autotheorical.
For Am I Evil? is very important to guide and support the participants who wish to explore the most complex parts of their life experience connected with the project topics, as much as creating real comfort and ease for the ones who cannot fully access a deep exploration process in this moment of their lives This exploration is highly personal, and its intensity can vary a lot depending on the subjectivity involved in it, therefore usually the final outcomes of the workshop are individual texts.
Els Moors (NL/EN) or Ubah Ali Farah (IT/EN) and Simone Basani facilitate together all the sessions focused on writing. During those sessions the group is invited to work in an individual dimension in the beginning, and more in a collective one towards the end of the journey. The research of the group crosses also performative approaches to text and writing, including collective ‘guided tours’ (if there is time enough) and self-recording sound scores.
An important decolonial aspect of Am I Evil? is the transmission of practices and exercises, always keeping in mind the ethical dimension of such a practice-based research. Am I Evil? has received exercises conceived specifically for its journey by artists and writers, and creates other ones ex novo or inspired by already existing ones.
The way this is done is shared with the group of participants as well. The main methodology shaping the collective part of the process is one of radical mutual re-writing. This is a method that allows participants to stay in dialogue with each other through actual (auto)fictional writing, without giving unrequested feedback or formulating opinions about the quality of the writing. Each participant receives at least one rewritten version of their texts and produces at least one rewritten version of another text.
The writing process aims at having a shareable text for each participant as outcome. Each writer decides if they want to make it public outside of the workshop group, or not. If there is time, energy, and budget available, it is possible to realize a small printed booklet but this means obviously that the texts get finalized (or crystallized in a form that the authors can accept) and a minimum of proofreading work is required. In any case the workshop ends with a public sharing moment where the texts are published ‘performatively’: read or shared via recordings, actions, installation through scripts or scores shared during the workshop.
LENGTH
For an edition the workshop trajectory needs to be made of six half days minimum, better if not in a row + final sharing moment For spin-offs that activates only some of the writing-performative tools of Am I Evil?, the trajectory can be shorter.
AM I EVIL? Kortrijk edition (2022 - 2023)
19 - 22 May 2022 (workshop)28 - 29 August 2022 (workshop)
Presentations:
Memento Festival: 18 March 2023
Almost Summer / Apap - Feminist Futures: 8 July 2023
Curation: Simone Basani and Alice Ciresola
Invited writing mentor: Els Moors
Writers: Maite Vanthournout, Tess Van Deynse, Massimiliano Doni, Jordy Spyt, Ann Bellemans, Mieke Stessens, KimmeTigra, Mario Vanhuylenbrouck, Yanne Ryon, Ian Maene, Diana Duta, Astrophysicist69, Dirk Elst, Alice Ciresola, Loeke Vanhoutteghem
Live illustrator (Memento festival): Cleo Bissong
Proofreading: Bruno De Wachter and Diana Duta
Booklet design: rien_de_nouveau_ici
Co-produced by Kunstencentrum BUDA, Letterzetter/ Bib Kortrijk, Memento festival, C-Takt & radical_hope
read the full booklet online
AM I EVIL? Brugge edition (2023 - 2024)
20-21-22 January 2023 (workshop)1 - 2 April 2023 (workshop)
Presentation:
18 March 2024: Am I Evil? The Exiled Brugge Edition @ Kiosk, Gent
Curation: Simone Basani and Alice Ciresola
Invited writing mentor: Els Moors
Writers: H. de S., Lore D. Selys, Roger Fähndrich, Maria Amparo / Maite Vanthournout, Els Moors, Massimiliano Doni, Adele A., Annemie Craeye
Booklet design: rien_de_nouveau_ici
Proofreading: Bruno De Wachter and Diana Duta
Printed at nadine, 100 copies, March 2024
Workshop co-produced by KAAP, Salon Arents / MuseaBrugge
Am I Evil? The Exiled Brugge Edition @ Kiosk, Gent co-produced by KAAP, Salon Arents / MuseaBrugge, nadine, radical_hoope, KIOSK & KASK.
AM I EVIL? Gent mini edition
as part of Am I Evil? The Exiled Brugge Edition @ Kiosk, Gent19 - 22 March 2024 (workshop + internal presentation)
Curation: Simone Basani and Alice Ciresola
Invited writing mentor: Els Moors
Writers: Joris Echezier, Lucio Guarinoni, Anna Laura Penna, Hanna De Grave Loyson, Adele A., Linde Moreel
Am I Evil? The Exiled Brugge Edition @ Kiosk, Gent co-produced by KAAP, Salon Arents / MuseaBrugge, nadine, radical_hope, KIOSK & KASK.
AM I EVIL? @ Peggy Guggenheim Collection Venice Edition
3 - 5 + 24 - 27 June (workshop + internal presentation)Curation: Simone Basani
Invited writing mentor: Cristina Ubah Ali Farah
Dramaturgical assistance: Lucio Guarinoni
Authors: Alessandra Luisa Cozzi, Anna Laura Penna, Blanca Zamperini, Eris Previtali, Gaia Finotello, Giulia Longoni, Laura Azzali, Raffaella Menchetti
Workshop commissioned and produced by Collection Peggy Guggenheim
AM I EVIL? First Brussels Edition
AM I EVIL? @ RITCS (Winter School)
10 - 24 January 202510 January: project presentation at DeMerkten, Brussels
13 - 24 January: workshop with RITCS students, Campus Kanal
24 January: end presentation at Bottelarij, Molenbeek
Curation: Simone Basani with Alice Ciresola
Invited writing mentor: Els Moors
Authors: RITCS students
Special guests: Sulaiman Addonia & Loredana Bianconi Workshop developed in the framework of RITCS Winter School: Voices and Silences, curated by Ellen Gillard
AM I EVIL? Teenager Spin-Off (A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us)
15 - 19 September 2025
Curation: Simone Basani
Authors: Kunsthumaniora Brussel students: Kika, Arachine, Loes, Rosemarie, Juliette, Ode, Emanuel, Helena and Bazil.
Workshop developed for Kunsthumaniora Brussel school.