Ready or not!? – KulTür auf!

Young people, young artists, theaters, activists and academics will meet on the roof of HKW to discuss what cultural means can offer in opposition to right-wing ideas and movements.

The conference is the finale of the three-year project “KulTür auf!” in which the JugendtheaterBüro Berlin, together with young people, young artists, large and small theaters investigate access to and exclusion from Berlin’s arts sector and argue in favor of a cultural remix.

With contributions by Dan Thy Nguyen, Kien Nghi Ha, Jumọke Adeyanju, Bündnis gegen Rassismus, Registerstelle der Alice-Salomon-Hochschule Berlin, Jugend gegen Rassismus, Aufstehen gegen Rassismus, ADS – Attackiert das System, a preview performance of the FESTIWALLA 2016 and many more. Plus: an exhibition about racial profiling created by Outreach with Berlin young people, and Dan Thy Nguyen’s award-winning radio play Sonnenblumenhaus about the 1992 pogroms in Rostock-Lichtenhagen.

The project is funded by the Berlin Projektfonds Kulturelle Bildung.

Public program on Saturday, May 21, 2016

1:00 pm Reception with a small brunch buffet
1:30 pm Preview performance of FESTIWALLA 2016/ Opening
2:30 pm Workshop Phase 1

Workshop 1: Theater against the right: Ready or not?
[Bündnis gegen Rassismus / Registerstelle der Alice Salomon Hochschule]

Workshop 2: Art with new perspectives or integration?
[Kien Nghi Ha / Dan Thy Nguyen]

Workshop 3a: KulTür auf! Practical workshop: “Get involved, interfere, remix” or how to do an artistic intervention in the established cultural sector (Part 1)
[KulTür auf!]
5:00 pm Workshop Phase 2 – Action planning

Workshop 4: Against the right with youth culture and hip-hop
[Hosted by ADS / Input von Aufstehen gegen Rassismus]

Workshop 5: How do I politically organize at my school?
[Jugend gegen Rassismus]

Workshop 3b: KulTür auf! Practical workshop: “Get involved, interfere, remix” or how to do an artistic intervention in the established cultural sector (Part 2)
[KulTür auf!]
6:30 pm Break / Meal
7:30 pm Conferment of the KulTür auf! Awards
8:00 pm Poetry meets Hip Hop meets Theater (music, spoken word, theater performance)
[Hosted by Jumọke Adeyanju with performances von I,Slam (tbd) / ADS / akademie der autodidakten (tbd) and more]

Workshop descriptions

Workshop 1: Theater against the right: Ready or not?

What can the cultural sector offer in opposition to right-wing ideas and movements and what role does the personal perspective play?

Right-wing thought is becoming ever more socially acceptable, the AfD is scoring frightening electoral successes and PEGIDA is still mobilizing successfully. In Berlin, attacks on refugees and people of color are increasing; some districts are becoming no-go areas. The racism and chauvinism being expressed here no longer only bears the face of the bald-headed street thugs; it is racism from the social mainstream.

More and more theater makers and artists, also on big stages, are actively taking a stand against racist mobilization. At the same time the large cultural institutions are still dominated mainly by the perspective of the white middle class. Young people of color in particular have few opportunities for self-representation.

Input and moderation: Bündnis gegen Rassismus and Registerstelle der Alice Salomon Hochschule

Workshop 2: Learning from history? Political art and remembering the pogroms of Rostock-Lichtenhagen

After a short period of great welcoming euphoria, the mood in Germany seems to have reversed. This manifests itself in the major tightening of asylum law and an escalation of violence that many find reminiscent of the racist attacks of the early 1990s. In this workshop, director and actor Dan Thy Nguyen presents excerpts from his award-winning radio drama Sonnenblumenhaus, which is based on reports by survivors of the pogrom in Rostock-Lichtenhagen in 1992 and focuses on the perspective of the attacked Vietnamese. Together with the political scientist Kien Nghi Ha, the workshop will discuss how we in Germany can commemorate the events in Rostock. Who will have a say and who will not? Given the current situation, what we can learn from how this part of German history was handled? How can political art contribute to a different culture of remembrance? And what difficulties do artists of color have when they create political art in Germany?

With Kien Nghi Ha and Dan Thy Nguyen

Moderation: Theater X

Workshop 3: KulTür auf! Practical workshop: “Get involved, interfere, remix” or how to do an artistic intervention in the established cultural sector

Analyze, produce and protest: KulTür auf! has been getting involved in the Berlin cultural scene with young people and young artists for over three years under this motto in order to fight for an opening and remix of the culture. In this practical workshop, the experiences and strategies of KulTür auf! will be shared and discussed ... and to ensure it does not remain pure theory, this workshop will also start a practical experiment.

Input and moderation: KulTür auf!

Workshop 4: Against the right with youth culture and hip-hop

We want to connect youth, culture and politics and organize ourselves together. Raise our voices with hip-hop against the right and get active NOW. Ready or not!? Here we come! We’ve invited rappers, dancers, spoken word artists, singers and all those who are politically active in hip-hop and youth culture.

Hosts: ADS with input by Aufstehen gegen Rassismus

Workshop 5: How do I do anti-racist work at my school?

A workshop on practical strategies that I can use to organize myself at my school to be active against racism.

Input and moderation: Jugend gegen Rassismus

An event of JugendtheaterBüro Berlin and KulTür auf! Funded by Berliner Projektfonds Kulturelle Bildung.

As part of Kultur öffnet Welten