Wörterbuch des Krieges

At least, when we create concepts, we are doing something. (Deleuze / Guattari)

From ABC weapons to civilian population, from parachute invasion to facts on the ground, from potato to collateral damage, from homesickness to resistance: "Dictionary of War" is a collaborative platform for creating 100 concepts on the subject of war, to be formed and presented at four two-day events in Graz, Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin, each featuring twenty-five contributions from scientists, artists, theorists and practitioners. The lectures, performances, films, slide shows, readings, concerts proceed in strict alphabetical order.

The aim is to (re)create key concepts that either already play a significant role in current discussions of war, have so far been neglected, or have yet to be created. "Dictionary of War" serves to scrutinise a reality that characteristically obfuscates existing power relations, the more people talk about war and peace.

War as an armed confrontation between sovereign (nation) states is a thing of the past. War becomes a "constitutive form of a new order" (Eric Alliez / Antonio Negri) that no longer knows inside or outside, that not only destroys, but also produces life. In this new world order, there is no difference between war and non-war: war is perpetual and everywhere.

"Dictionary of War" appeals for us to desert from a war of words in which facts are asserted with tremendous effort until they can no longer be questioned. Concepts have to be invented, created, produced. It is not about definitions, anecdotes, original opinions, but rather about developing the tools with which to attain new ideas.

Parallel to the performative implementation of the Dictionary, the concepts will be documented and made available for discussion on the Internet as video recordings. Finally, Merve-Verlag will be publishing an actual book version.

Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Franco "Bifo" Berardi
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Jan Diestelmeyer
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Charles Esche
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Nikolaus Hirsch
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: DeeDee Haleck
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Sylvère Lotringer
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Lawrence Liang
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Goran Sergej Pristas
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Raqs Media Collective
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Ultra-red
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Tris Vonna-Michell
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Peter Weibel
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Gesa Ziemer
Konzept / Idee: Unfriendly Takeover
Konzept / Idee: Multitude e. V.