International Feminist Conference
Slow intimacy
12–14 October 2022
Facilitated by the SARChI Chair in Gender Politics, Amanda Gouws
Co-facilitated by Lou-Marié Kruger, Department of Psychology
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Langsame intimiteit
Alle mense word in die konteks van intieme verhoudings gevorm en ontwikkel: intieme verhoudings met jouself, jou onmiddellike familie, jou vriende en minnaars, jou diere, jou omgewing. Om te “intimate” beteken om iets te weet en te wys wat jy weet. ’n Intieme verhouding is dus ’n verhouding waarin jy iets oor jouself en die ander weet (bewustelik of onbewustelik) en wys wat jy weet (op eksplisiete of implisiete maniere). Ons wys wat ons weet deur gesprekke, met seks, met kosmaak, deur komplekse begrotings op te stel, deur gholf te speel, musiek te maak, te borsvoed, kinders groot te maak, tuine te beplan, huise te bou – maar soms wys ons wat ons weet op gewelddadige maniere: Ons skel en ons vloek en ons rand aan; ons breek af en ons maak selfs dood of begin oorloë.
Vir hierdie konferensie het ons skrywers, digters, kunstenaars, musici, filosowe, literators, politieke wetenskaplikes, sielkundiges, regsgeleerdes en teoloë gevra om kreatief te besin oor intimiteit en die lewegewende en destruktiewe aspekte van die langsame intimiteite waarmee ons altyd besig is.
Die hoofspreker, Gabeba Baderoon, begin die konferensie deur van haar poësie voor te lees:
I seek to show the subtle yet profound palimpsest of history within the self, and trace how the private shapes the experience of intergenerational and social forces. Growing up under apartheid and coming to adulthood in the post-apartheid shows how the private can have a timetable of hundreds of thousands of years and history can be as immediate as an eyelash against a cheek.
Die filosoof Vasti Roodt besin oor die konflik tussen die politiese sfeer en die intieme sfeer en haal Javier Marías aan wat skryf oor ’n ongenoemde maar baie duidelik identifiseerbare Britse vroulike politikus wat lamenteer: “The people vote for one, indeed they do so more than once. One is elected, again more than once. And yet, it’s odd, one still doesn’t have the feeling of being loved.”
Aan die ander kant handel Marion Stevens, Makhosazaba Xaba, Vyokoazie Futshane en Kwezilomos Mbandayo se werk oor die langsame intimiteit van vroue wat in solidariteit met mekaar is. Hulle beklemtoon veiligheid, om te hoort, weerloosheid, konneksie, luister, praat, verskil, en uiteindelik die geniet van gedeelde menslikheid. Viv Bozalek, Nike Romano en Tamara Shefer praat oor “Wild sea swimming” en vertel met ’n video oor hoe saam swem, skryf en dink “encrusted with ocean bacteria, shivering with underwater creatures and plants, and awash with images of luminescent underwater spaces” die begin was van gedagtes wat water word.
Maar daar is nog. So skryf die regsgeleerde Pierre de Vos oor hoe hy sy susters leer liefkry het in die verskriklike dae voor sy pa se dood. Kgothaso Mokgele vertel hoe hy as gevolg van ‘n gradeplegtigheid-foto van hom waar hy sy pa op sy voorkop soen, baie negatiewe reaksies van veral sy Ethiopiese gemeenskap moes verduur: “How long it took my father and [me] to feel at ease in showing affection is not depicted in the picture.”
Die digter en Engels-professor Sally-Ann Murray dink na oor die komplekse intimiteit van ma-wees van ’n trans kind. Die skrywer Michiel Heyns lees voor uit ’n opkomende roman waarin die karakters worstel met die intieme aksie van selfdood. Vasu Reddy besin oor hoe oor eetbare intimiteit (kos, kosmaak en eet) nie net oor biologiese behoeftes gaan nie, maar alles te doen het met die interseksie van die private en die publieke: Ras, kultuur, gender en mag is altyd ter sprake. Die historikus Sandra Swart begin haar referaat, “The slow intimacy of horse and rider”, met die stelling: “There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse” en wonder dan oor die belangrikheid van aanraking, die dubbele sensasie van aanraak en om aangeraak te word – ’n baie belangrike aspek van alle vorme van intimiteit.
Intimiteit kan ook destruktief wees. Kopano Ratele, die tweede hoofspreker, bespreek hoe skrikwekkend nou verweef liefde en stryd is in sy aanbieding oor manlikheid en vaderskap. Khadija Bawa beskou die onskuldige vertroue wat mense het in instellings wat veronderstel is om ons vertroue waardig te wees: ouers, onderwysers, en dan haar fokus, die polisie. So beklemtoon ons die belangrikheid van kritiese denke oor die betroubaarheid van ander en ons instansies van sorg. Ons belig so ’n krisis in Suid-Afrika – dat die versorgende instellings nie meer te vertrou is nie. Intimiteit het ’n destruktiewe kant.
Die organiseerders van die konferensie, Amanda Gouws en Lou-Marié Kruger, hoop dat hierdie konferensie ’n kreatiewe en intieme gesprek sal wees oor wat ons weet oor onsself en ander en ons omgewing – en hoe ons wys wat ons weet. En hoe hierdie langsame intimiteite waarmee ons lewe, op beide positiewe en negatiewe maniere ’n impak op ons het.
Ons verwelkom deelname van die publiek in hierdie belangrike gesprek.
Volg die skakel om vir die konferensie te registreer: https://web-apps.sun.ac.za/eps-web-pay/spring/main-path/quickpay/2000233. Die registrasiefooi van R1 500 sluit middagete, koffie/tee en versnaperings by STIAS in.
Besoek die konferensie se amptelike webtuiste by https://profgouws.wixsite.com/slow-intimacy vir die volledige program en verdere inligting oor die sprekers.
The verb to intimate refers to the action of showing what you know. The noun intimacy refers to an interaction in which a person knows something and then shows that they know and what they know to another. This intimate interaction can be with a person, other living things, inanimate objects, the planet. The adjective intimate refers to that which is known or those who know and are known, those who show and get shown. The knowing or familiarity associated with intimacy can be cognitive or emotional or both and is often embodied. In intimate interactions you can show, manifest or perform the knowing in different ways: through language, art, music, physical actions, often involving skills and bodily habits. Intimate performance is involved in quotidian everyday actions (sex, sports, shopping, delivering a baby, breastfeeding, parenting, cooking, gardening, housework, household fighting, work) as much as in extraordinary ones (Olympic-level figure skating, an authoritative yet daring execution of a Chopin piano concerto, a mother murdering her children, war). Both knowing and showing can be explicit or implicit, conscious or unconscious. Intimate knowing can manifest as a showing that has the potential to be immensely powerful, ranging from showings that are nurturing and loving to showings that are cruel and destructive.
Recently, feminist and queer studies have turned to the concept of intimacy both as a subject and as an analytical rubric. In this conference the focus will be on what we call slow intimacy – intimate interactions that are enduring, longstanding, in process, and in development over time. We seek to explore processes of knowing and showing that are subtle and nuanced, complex, multi-layered and intricate. We also aim to explore the processes of knowing and showing associated with slow intimacy: Who gets to know and who gets to show? In what conditions are knowing and showing possible? How is intimacy tied to power and how is it informed or shaped by larger societal processes (political, social, economic)? Slow intimacy takes place in different sites, on different scales, and involves different types of showing. The showing associated with slow intimacy can involve intellectual, sexual and cultural repertoires, as well as aesthetic and performative modes. We are aware of the fact that a certain temporal dialectic is at work in every instance of intimacy: It might take a lifetime to gain the knowing that goes into a fleeting showing. We are interested in an intimacy that is neither spectacular nor instantaneous, but rather incremental and dispersed over time.
In June 2020 we sent out a call for papers, inviting papers and performances that engage with the topic of slow intimacy. The resulting programme includes academic papers, creative non-fiction, visual art, music, poetry and film. The emphasis was on exploring ways of making an intimacy that may be relatively unseen and unrecognisable, visible and recognisable in conscious and creative ways. We now are inviting people to attend the conference, hoping that all presenters and participants will respond to and interpret the notion of a slow intimacy. We trust that the discussions will be as interesting as the formal presentations.
To register for the conference please use this link: https://web-apps.sun.ac.za/eps-web-pay/spring/main-path/quickpay/2000233. The registration fee is R1 500 and includes all lunches and teas/coffees/snacks at STIAS.
We look forward to your participation in our conference.
Visit the official conference website at https://profgouws.wixsite.com/slow-intimacy for the full programme and information about the speakers.