Conversations on Anarchism with Juan Pablo Macías, Angelika Stepken, and the Library of the Free, Berlin

Juan Pablo Macías – TIEMPO MUERTO

Conversations on art and anarchism with Juan Pablo Macías and the collective of the “Bibliothek der Freien”, Berlin - moderated by Angelika Stepken.

Anarchist thinking that is radically critical of domination runs through the history of ideas from the 19th to the 21st century and repeatedly intersects with free artistic practice and its critique of representation.

Juan Pablo Macías initiated the International Society of Proudhonian Studies in Livorno in 2022 and deals with the concepts of creation, work, property and the devastating economisation of natural and social relationships - in contrast to pre-capitalist societies.

Since 1994, the Library of the Free has dedicated itself to the task of visualising anarchist history and keeping libertarian ideas alive. Its name is borrowed from the circle of ‘Berliner Freie’, an oppositional debating club in the German Vormärz period. In the House of Democracy in Friedrichshain, the Free Group runs the largest public anarchist library with over 4000 volumes and 8000 magazines.

In conversation with Angelika Stepken, the artist Juan Pablo Macías and the Free Librarians attempt to address and update anarchist thinking in art.
To introduce the discussion, various short texts will be quoted, including those by the Greek-French philosopher Cornelius Castoriadis (‘Society as an imaginary institution’), the anarchist pioneer Joseph Proudhon (‘Property is theft’) and the cultural anthropologist and activist David Graeber (‘Debt. The first 5,000 years’) and David Graeber / David Wengrow (‘Beginnings. A new history of humanity’).

Learn more about the Library of the Free here: Library of the Free

The event will be held in German and English.