Ph.D.

RAW DIAMONDS, DUST AND SPLINTERS

—Artistic Practices of Queering Historiographies

Irène Mélix, Ph.D., Bauhaus University Weimar (handed in in summer 2025, defense planned for beginning of 2026)

 

https://www.uni-weimar.de/en/art-and-design/studies/doctorate-at-the-faculty-of-art-and-design/doctoral-projects/

 

 

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisors, Prof. Dr. Angela Matyssek and Prof. Christine Hill, for their invaluable support and guidance.
I also thank Prof. Alex Toland, who served as my first mentor for several exams and invited me to be part of her colloquium. Thanks also to Prof. Charlotte Eifler, who offered to review my dissertation and therefore helped to finalize it.

My thanks go to Prof. Dr. Kerstin Schankweiler, who, together with Prof. Dr. Angela Matyssek, organized a colloquium in cooperation between TU Dresden and HfBK Dresden, which was highly valuable in the process of writing my dissertation. I am especially grateful to the other PhD candidates for their insightful feedback during the colloquium.

I would like to thank the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation for their support throughout my PhD, especially for their significant contributions to conferences, workshops, and the political opportunities they provided. Thanks also to Dr. Heike Raab for her advice and intellectual exchange.

My sincere thanks go to Prof. Ulrike Grossarth, with whom I studied and who has remained an important and critical discussion partner.

I would like to thank my fellow PhD students at Bauhaus University in Weimar, especially Teresa Fischer, Lisa Hoffmann, and Teresa Mayr.

Thanks to the Bauhaus Research School for their supportive workshop program, particularly the Mentoring Program, and to my fellow mentees. Thanks to the organisers and academics I met at the conferences in Bremen and Dublin.

Thanks to the numerous curators and institutions that supported my artistic work before and throughout the dissertation process — too many to name individually. ENSBA Lyon, François Piron, Kunsthalle Osnabrück, Manila Bartnik, queerANarchive Split, Tonči Kranjčević Batalić, Kunsthaus Dresden, Schwules Museum Berlin, Vincent Schier, Dr. Birgit Bosold, Gerede e.V. Dresden, Strefa Kultury Wrocław, Krzysztof Bielaszka, BWA Wrocław Galerie Sztuki Współczesnej, Joanna Synowiec.

Thanks to inspiring thinkers and colleagues such as Liliana Zeic, Mathias Foit and Joanna Ostrowska.

Thanks to the archives: Spinnboden Lesbenarchiv & Bibliothek e.V., Fonds Chomarat Lyon, QueerStoria. Biblioteka i Archiwum Lambdy, Archives lesbiennes Paris, Australian Lesbian & Gay Archives, Archiv des Schwulen Museums Berlin, Centre audiovisuel Simone de Beauvoir.

Thanks to the graphic designers Insa Deist and Hjördis Lyn Behncken (notes on), who contributed their work to several projects, and especially to the form of this Ph.D.

I am grateful to my online writing group, who have been there for me nearly every day, guiding me through the process: Miriam Büxenstein, Elisa Lehrer, Johanna Hiebl, Lilo Meier, and Anna Rößner.

Thanks to Prof. Dr. Friederike Sigler for her support and for accompanying me in my first steps as a teacher.

I also want to thank TT Takemoto and Karol Radziszewski for the exchange and for granting me access to their work, and to Chris E. Vargas, Mohamad Abdouni, Lucas LaRochelle, Benny Nemer, Iris Häußler, and Cheryl Dunye for their inspiring work.

My heartfelt thanks go to my family, my parents and siblings, especially Sophie Mélix and the Terassenhaus e.V., for providing a space to write and think.

I am deeply grateful to my many friends, whom I cannot all list here, as I am truly fortunate to be surrounded by so many wonderful people.
Special thanks to those close friends who supported me at every step of my dissertation, research projects, and exhibitions, and who were brave enough to read my chapters and listen to my doubts. To them, I owe my love and gratitude: Maria Bühner, Francy Fabritz, Franziska Goralski, Elsa Hennig, Rosa Klee, Sophie Mélix, Fabian Ng’uni, Artemys Reuter, Jojo Richter, Daria Samokhvalova, Vincent Schier, Theresa Schnell, Ronja Sommer, Lilli Zeh, Hannah Zimmermann. Thanks to all of you.

Thanks to Juri Wasenmüller for the loving support, for thinking, walking, and cycling by my side.

Thanks for reminding me of the pleasures of life and love.

Thanks to all queers and antifascists who make this world a livable place.

Finally, in loving memory of Paule, Georg, and all those who were part of my journey but are no longer with us.