Never Work Talks: Helen Hester, Anajara Amarante, Olivia Hyunsin Kim

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Over the course of two days, the festival’s artistic program will be accompanied by a series of lec­tures and discussions.

We begin on June 24 with a look at a possible future and the question of what a “post-work” society might look like—a world in which work is organized very differently and no longer forms the center of our identity and social organization. For this, we have invited Helen Hester, who has gained international attention through her publications Xenofeminism (Polity, 2018), After Work: A History of the Home and the Fight for Free Time (with Nick Srnicek, Verso, 2023), and Post-Work: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How We Get There (with Will Stronge, Bloomsbury, 2025). Following a keynote, she will discuss with artists Anajara Amarante and Olivia Hyunsin Kim what visions for artistic work in a post-work society might look like.

On June 25, philosopher and author Amelia Horgan and sociologist and author Nicole Mayer-Ahuja will engage in a keynote conversation about the realities of our current world of work under capitalism, contemporary class society and the divisions that wage labor creates, as well as the potential of “resistant idleness” and sometimes unexpected alliances.

With: Helen Hester, Anajara Amarante, Olivia Hyunsin Kim

A production by Sophiensæle. Never Work—International Performance Festival is a festival by Sophiensæle, supported by the Capital Cultural Fund (HKF). Sophiensæle is supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. Media partners: Berlin Art Link, Missy Magazine, Siegessäule, taz.

Next date:

• Date Wednesday, 24/June/2026 19:00 (1 more date)
• Venue Sophiensaele - Kantine
• Address Sophienstraße 18, 10178 Berlin-Mitte
• Price from €5.00

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