Commonplaces

About

Werker is an experimental publishing initiative operating in the intersection of labour, ecofeminism and the LGBTQI+ movements in favour of an image critique of daily life, to analyse what is made visible and what remains hidden or silenced in different political contexts. It was initiated by Marc Roig Blesa and Rogier Delfos in Amsterdam in 2009 by releasing ten issues of a publication called Werker Magazine.

Werker takes inspiration from Der Vereinigung der Arbeiter-Fotografen (the association of worker photographers), a group of politicised photo-clubs that appeared in Germany in the 1920’s, following in the steps of the first socialist photography experiments in the USSR which extended into the rest of Europe, the United States, and Japan. It takes an interest in working methodologies based on self-representation, self-publishing, image analysis, collective authorship and counter-archiving.

Werker aims to expand the notion of self-publishing into a variety of media such as moving image, digital publishing, installation, printed matter and performance. It operates contextually, thus exploring different forms and strategies of interaction with a variety of audiences.

For the last 10 years, under the name Werker Collective, it has been hosting photography, design and publishing workshops with students, cultural workers, self-organised unions of migrant domestic workers, undocumented migrants, in support of anti-eviction activists, feminist groups, LGBTQI+ communities and people with neurological or functional diversities, amongst others. Through these workshops, Werker Collective is weaving an intersectional and transnational network of allies, reactivating oppressed histories and inquiring worker’s solidarity through collaborative artistic practice. (Further reading: Yes With Us, Never About Us: Art/Workers, Solidarity and Privilege. Collectively, Werker Collective, Iaspis Stockholm 2021)

Some of the artists, activists, researchers, unions, schools, museums and archives that compose Werker’s ecosystem are: Activestills, Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Association Ancrages, Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons, Centre Culturel Populaire Palentes Orchamp (Groupes Medvedkine), Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Ciudadan@s en Defensa de la Escuela Pública, Dar Chabab, Der Arbeiter-Fotograf, Dutch Art Institute, Georgy Mamedov, International Institute of Social History, Jo Spence Memorial Archive, @juancarlosmohr, Julia Morandeira Arrizabalaga, Manifesta 14, Silvia Federici, MayDay Rooms, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Photography Workshop, Jo Spence Memorial Archive, Rijksakademie van Beelende Kunsten, Sindillar: Sindicato de Trabajadoras del Hogar y los Cuidados, Susoespai: Creació i Salut Mental, Stedelijk Museum, Steve Edwards, Sonsbeek 20–24, Tate Modern, Taula en Defensa dels Drets de les Treballadores de la Llar i les Cures, The Showroom, The Voice of Domestic Workers, We Are Here.

Contact

Werker Archive
Geldersekade 74
1012 BL Amsterdam
The Netherlands

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