Gia Herion is writing a PhD under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Karen van den Berg (Center for Arts & Humanities, Zeppelin University) and Prof. Dr. Angela Koch (University of
Art and Design Linz).
'You're not being paranoid. You know the numbers. It's even worse than that.'
Manon Garcia, Living with men. Reflections on the Pelicot-Process, 2025
SEX AFTER DEATH.
Facing sexual trauma between sexes in the mirror of contemporary art and discourse (working title)
In the doctoral project the connections between sexual violence, trauma and gender relations are examined on the basis of selected contemporary artistic works.
Since antiquity, different narratives about sexual violence can be found through the history of images and art, which reflect the respective discourses of their time.
Only with the emergence of feminist positions in the 1970s did the male-dominated perspective on sexual violence change. In their goal of raising public awareness, the works of feminist artists can be classified as forerunners of the #metoo movement.
In the public debate, the discussion about the abuse of power by men against women dominates. However, the causes of sexual violence seem to be deeply anchored in social structures that can affect all genders – in particular children.
In trauma research, structures of violence are viewed as part of a partially transgenerational cycle, which can continue in self-harm or damage to others without coming to terms with it. The possibility of (re-) traumatisation appears to be another essential factor in the discussion of intimate violence.
In contrast to the previous discourses, the research project aims to capture contemporary artistic positions that bring to light various constellations of actors and contexts of meaning of sexual violence and trauma. Artists who try to decipher the complexity of the structures of violence and break up dualistic gender roles and cycles of violence.
To this end, contemporary artistic positions are to be related to historical works in order to investigate which innovations, breaks and gaps the current discourse on sexual violence and trauma has and which different resistance strategies artists and activists develop to decipher the polymorphic structures of violence.
Academic education
Gia Herion studied Cultural History and Theory at Humboldt University of Berlin.
For her master's thesis “Wenn die Daten Trauer tragen. Die Tode von Alan Kurdi (2017)” (When Data Mourns: The Deaths of Alan Kurdi), she examined private and collective mourning in online memes over the death of Alan Kurdi. It was completed under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Iris Därmann and Dr. Holger Brohm at Humboldt University of Berlin.
The thesis was cited in Benkel, T. and Meitzler, M. (eds.) (2023). Jahrbuch für Tod und Gesellschaft / Annual Review of Death and Society, Vol. 2/2023. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa.
The findings were presented, among other places, in a lecture at “FLEEING IMAGES: AFFECT // REPRESENTATION” – A trans- and interdisciplinary event organised by Jacobus Bracker, Ann-Kathrin Hubrich and Stefanie Johns, 1–3 December 2016.
Her essay, “Belanglose Bilder – Vom Viral zum Internet-Mem” (Trivial images – From a viral to an internet meme) was published in “Originalität und Viralität von (Internet-)Memes” (Originality and Virality of (Internet-) Memes), 2018. It can be considered as one of the first interdisciplinary publications about online memes and was organised by Georg Fischer and Lorenz Grünewald-Schukalla for a special edition of kommunikation@gesellschaft.
Gia Herion has a bachelor's degree in Communication and Cultural Management from Zeppelin University. Her bachelor thesis, “Das Studio Eliasson als Trompe l' Œil?' (2010)” (first supervisor: Prof. Dr. Karen van den Berg; second supervisor: Prof. Dr. Maren Lehmann), received the Best Bachelor's Thesis Award in 2010 at Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen.