every tear recorded

“I will disappear and have nothing hidden.”
– Hervé Guibert in an interview (Globe, 1992)

Every tear is recorded, no story forgotten, every secret written down—and the frequently asked question of which stories we remember arises once again: What do we actually do with (queer) stories without a happy ending? With stories that (unfortunately) do not tell of emancipation, of someone achieving something for the first time, of someone finding their freedom and peace? “Every tear recorded” reminds us of them – because forgetting them doesn’t seem to be an option either. We face the paradox that our dreams of a more just, freer future must grow out of experiences of pain, stigmatization, and loss.

These thoughts are the starting point for the video essay “every tear recorded.” In addition, the team behind Ruben Müller’s OFS final production will share the current status of their work at Habibi Kiosk that evening. In the production “Mitleidsprotokoll” (Pity Protocol), autofictional works by French author and photographer Hervé Guibert, who addresses his own HIV infection and that of his fellow human beings, are adapted and brought to the stage. Guibert’s self-proclaimed project was to consistently record his life situation and that of his environment at the end of the 1980s, albeit with an artistic slant. His works tell stories without happy endings and thus tie in directly with the initial question of the lecture performance.