Invitation to the Defense of Hannah Katalin Grimmer

The Examination Panel is made up of: Prof.in Dr.in Ruth Sonderegger (chair), PD Dr. phil. habil. Jens Kastner (supervisor 1), Prof.in Dr.in Dr.in h.c. Astrid Erll (supervisor  2, Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main), Prof.in Dr.in Ann Rigney (external appraiser).

The defense will take place in German at room M20 at the Academy.

Abstract

This dissertation examines the entanglement of art, activism and memory in Chile between 1964 and 2023. Rather than being conceived as closed historical periods, dictatorship and post-dictatorship are approached through historical continuities, revealing the persistent presence of the past in the present. Bringing together Anglo-European Memory Studies and Latin American Estudios sobre memoria, the study introduces the analytical concept of "remediated re-presencing". This concept describes how artistic practices reactivate and recontextualise motifs and symbols in transtemporal processes and across different media. Drawing on the guiding motifs No+ [No more], Somos+ [We are more] and Dignidad [dignity], which originate in social movements, the dissertation analyses murals, stencils, paste-ups, photographs, painting and performance. In doing so, it illustrates how artists act as memory agents and disrupt the percepticide – the control of perception – imposed by the dictatorship. The study shows that artistic interventions envision a porvenir that is, a world yet to come. At the intersection of art theory, cultural studies and memory research, it contributes to an understanding of visual culture as a resisting form of memory work.

Short biography

Hannah Katalin Grimmer is an independent curator and PhD candidate in Art Theory and Cultural Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and Goethe University Frankfurt. She holds a B.A. in Cultural Studies and Romance Studies from the University of Leipzig and an M.A. in Curatorial Studies from Goethe University and the Städelschule, Frankfurt. Her research focuses on contemporary Latin American art, particularly in Chile and Argentina, and is situated at the intersection of memory studies and decolonial theory.

Hannah K. Grimmer has worked in the curatorial team at the Gropius Bau in Berlin and as a Research Associate at the documenta Institute at the University of Kassel. As a curator, she has realized exhibitions and projects in Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris, and Santiago de Chile, most notably the three-part series "Memorias, símbolos y resistencias" [Memories, Symbols and Resistances] (2023–2024).

Her writing has appeared in journals, anthologies, and exhibition catalogues. She is the translator and co-editor of the re-edition of Operación Silencio. Chile después de Salvador Allende (Editorial USACH, 2023). Supported by various fellowships, she has conducted extended research stays in Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires, collaborating with institutions including the Universidad de Chile, the Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH), the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and the Universidad de Buenos Aires. She works in German, Spanish, and English.