Rave Rights

Co-opted and money-driven, securitized gateways, gendered toilets, state-imposed curfew hours and sound limiters are some of the many apparatuses designed to confine, control or shut down the subversive nature of the rave. How can we reclaim and re-politicise these spaces and aim towards radical acceptance of marginalised bodies? As the ephemeral life of these spaces fade, which alternatives can be created to welcome, accommodate and generate new ravers? Joining the dots of their respective research fields, three key figures in the current re-discovery of free dance as moment of creative institutional crisis will discuss the contribution of spaces like political dancefloors in releasing the tentacles of reactionary thinking: Pedro Marum and Lou Drago will draw on their experiences both as ravers, DJs and party organisers, and as curators and queer thinkers as part of the Berlin-based collective XenoEntities Network; while Bogomir Doringer will elaborate on the term “dance of urgency”: a dance that arises from the emotions that occur in times of personal and collective breakdown.

The discussion will be moderated by Francesco Alessandri, one of the activists behind Macao and Saturnalia Festival.

This conversation took place at Saturnalia Festival, Milan, IT; on June 22nd, 2019.