HUMBUG

MI 28.05.2025│Doors: 1930
Start: 2000
Preis VVK: 12
Preis AK: 15

HUMBOOKS: "Slayeth Love" with x collective x and Anouchka Gwen


Sometimes, all you need to feel supported and continue to thrive, are the words from those that understand the path you were born into.

If you had the opportunity to address the person that changed your world for the better as you grew confidently into your beautiful Queer and Black identity, what would you write? What would you say to the person whose existence helped you develop into your authentic self or to the person that unknowingly helped you understand the meaning of “it gets better”?

In a time where long workdays and innumerable demands find us more and more isolated from each other, community care is both a revolutionary and a healing tool. There is unlimited power in supporting and nourishing those whom we share our roots, history, and identities with.

With this in mind, the unique and intimate letters in this book are a declaration of unapologetic love from Black writers who are femme, queer and/or disabled that have taken up a movement with the intentional purpose of supporting and uplifting the identities, bodies, and shared understandings of our community across the diaspora. This book is a declaration of love , light, friendship, and community that reminds us we are valid; that our stories matter; and most importantly, we are here to stay as we continue to slay our way into the future our ancestors dreamed of.

Moderation by Anouchka Gwen. The event is in English. The online radio station Radiohr will broadcast the event live. Stream via radiohr.hyperwerk.ch. HUMBOOKS is supported by CMS Stiftung, Basler Stiftung Bau & Kultur, Swisslos-Fonds Basel-Stadt and Migros Kulturprozent.






x collective x

Founded in Geneva in 2018,  x collective x brings together Black/Afro-descent writers, editors, and artists , trans, queer, and/or disabled, living in Europe, along with their allies. It creates spaces for marginalized artists, amplifying their voices and contributions.

Its mission is to use art to imagine and help build an inclusive world. Through publishing, literary creation, and archiving, it works towards more engaged and inclusive institutions, believing in art’s power to transform society and empower marginalized communities.

It strives to enhance dialogues on accessibility, representation, and equity in the arts, while fostering connections between marginalized artists and institutions. It envisions a future where their voices reshape the European cultural landscape and beyond.






Nayansaku Mufwankolo

Nayansaku Mufwankolo (they/zey) is a poet, artist, researcher, lecturer in cultural studies and critical studies, consultant, and trainer in anti-racism and intersectional discrimination.






Meloe Gennai

Meloe Gennai is an interdisciplinary dramaturg with a focus on sensorial dramaturgy. Their work is shaped by familial connections to intellectual and artistic traditions from the Caribbean, Italy, and Switzerland, and by research into origin, theatre, and opera. Meloe develops intercontinental stage projects, most recently on selective mutism and twerk culture. Their practice is rooted in decolonial and Pan-African approaches, Black feminist theory, and Disability Justice.

Meloe is a published author and curator. Their latest co-curated publication, 'Slayeth Love', appeared in 2024 with Édition Assemblage. Their solo show 'SNOB' premiered in 2023, and asecond piece, 'About Annie', explores femme madness. Their work has been supported by ProHelvetia, Migros Engagement, and multiple Swiss institutions.

They are also the artistic director of x collective x, a platform for Black, trans, queer, and disabled artists of African descent in Europe.






Jazil Antò

J.A Santschi’s artistic research focuses on the relationships between sound and memory, as well as the ethics of knowledge mobilization. Primarily based in switzerland, their work takes the form of soundscapes, vocal improvisation, essays, sculptures, spatial installations, collective practices of listening.






FONCÉ

​ FONCÉ is a multidisciplinary artist and organizer based in Basel. Their creative expressions mirror their processes of Becoming by weaving together different artistic mediums such as writing, sound production, DJing and curating. At the core of FONCÉs practices are storytelling and re_membering. They are interested in re_writing and re_assembling embodied narratives while drawing knowledge from their lived experiences. Since 2020, FONCÉ has been a member of OKRA, a collective of afro-descendant multidisciplinary creatives based in Switzerland.






Anouchka Gwen

Anouchka Gwen (*1997) is a swiss born and raised singer-songwriter, bass player and cultural worker currently based in Zurich, Switzerland. The vulnerability, complexities and emotions that life brings are her main inspirations. With their dreamy and bassy voice, they aim to voice their deepest and most honest thoughts and unapologetically take space. As an artist with congolese roots, she’s influenced and inspired by repetitive, soulful and rhythmic melodies and mixes it with her love for electronic psychedelic wide pop infused soundscapes. After a needed break from the stage as a front person, Anouchka Gwen decides to go back to their beginning ways, solo on stage, offering their deepest thoughts in a vulnerable way with their voice and e-bass only. Join Anouchka Gwen on this new sound and artistic journey.