Oct 21–22, 2006

my construction site #1: my diplomacy

It begins with negotiation strategies: diplomacy, the mediation of different positions on an uncertain basis. One’s own and external interests have to be brought into balance. Identities are at stake. From this angle, diplomacy seen not only as something practised solely at the level of interstate and supra-state relations, but also as a concept for experimenting in a cultural exchange without any need for a superior position.

During the past few years, ever greater attention has been devoted to the role of culture in foreign relations. To what extent are classical diplomacy and culture being transformed in the process? And conversely: which general cultural categories can be applied to a state’s external activities and its activities vis-à-vis communities of states? Given their backgrounds, Joschka Fischer and Peter Sloterdijk —with their different perspectives—are the obvious discussion partners here.

Artists design a third room that defies all territorial and national definitions and raises questions about home, affiliation and utopia. In a ceremonial act at the HKW, “Kings” Carl Michael von Hausswolff and Leif Elggren will be opening a new embassy at the HKW for their Kingdom of Elgaland-Vargaland . Hans Ulrich Obrist will be speaking as the consul of the virtual state.

Questions posed by cultural theoreticians and artists are related to the problems and risks of representation: Whose diplomacy? Who is the negotiator?

Besides that you can take a look behind the scenes at this internationally famous Berlin landmark on guided tours through the construction site.

my construction site #1: my diplomacy is presented by DasCorps: League of International Capital Contacts and the Berlin HauptstadtDepesche.