With DIE KUNST, VIELE ZU BLEIBEN, the Fonds Darstellende Künste, together with partners from the field of independent performing arts, is organizing forums at nine locations across Germany – with performance, action and debate that stand up for art, freedom and democracy in a variety of gatherings. The aim is to confront what is probably the most urgent task of the present in a polyphonic exchange: The art of staying many.

The two forum days at Sophiensæle and Chamäleon Theater are dedicated to different forms of resistance against the political right, hatred and discrimination. On the first day, possible alliances and solidarities will be discussed in workshops, keynote speeches and discussions, among others together with the Berlin initiative DIE VIELEN. Artists such as Joana Tischkau & team, Sookee, Luce deLire and Oliver Zahn will provide insights into their artistic practices of resistance.

Overview 21.06.

10:30–11:30 THE ART OF STAYING MANY – Alliances and solidarity against anti-Semitism!
with Shlomi Moto Wagner (performance artist, opera singer) & Heinrich Horwitz (director, choreographer, actor), Noam Brusilovsky (theater and radio play maker), Shelly Kupferberg (journalist, author), Jonathan Shapiro (drummer)

11:45–13:15 Working phase I: Workshops & discourse formats
with among others Prof. Uffa Jensen (Center for Research on Antisemitism, TU Berlin), the Berlin-based initiative Die Vielen, Oliver Zahn

13:15–14:15 Mittagspause

14:30–15:45 Keynotes by Sookee (musician, anti-fascist, mother), Şeyda Kurt (journalist, author, speaker) and Luce deLire (philosopher, author, media theorist)

16:00–17:30 Working phase II: Workshops & Diskursformate
with Eva Hartmann, Die Vielen, Luce deLire and i can be your translator (Linda Fisahn, Christoph Rodatz)

From 19:00 Performances „Bitter Fields“ von les dramaturx und „The Last Supper“ von MEXA

10:30–11:30, Chamäleon Theater
THE ART OF STAYING MANY – Alliances and solidarity against anti-Semitism!
with Shlomi Moto Wagner (performance artist, opera singer) & Heinrich Horwitz (director, choreographer, actor), Noam Brusilovsky (theater and radio play maker), Shelly Kupferberg (journalist, author), Jonathan Shapiro (drummer)

In light of global geopolitical crises and conflicts as well as the rise of antisemitism everywhere, including and not least in Germany, journalist and author Shelly Kupferberg will moderate a space with various positions and (artistic) visions for alliances and solidarity against antisemitism. What impetus can be taken from these positions and applied to the political discourse? Kupferberg will then discuss this with the Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism, Dr. Felix Klein.

Working phase I: Workshops & discourse formats

11:45–13:15, Chamäleon Theater
Knowledge: The concept of antisemitism and current debates
Working session with Professor Uffa Jensen, Center for Research on Antisemitism, TU Berlin

In recent years, the art scene has been repeatedly rocked by antisemitism scandals. Invitations, disinvitations, boycotts, cancel culture. This session will provide an overview of the concept of antisemitism in various contexts and also place it in a historical context.

11:45–13:15, Kantine Sophiensæle
Alliances: THE ART OF STAYING MANY
Discussion and networking with the Berlin-based initiative Die Vielen (part 1)

In recent years, many civil society associations have joined forces with actors from arts and culture to stand up for the rights and freedoms of our democracy, enshrined in the Basic Law, through actions, approaches and exchanges and to campaign against hatred, hate speech, discrimination and right-wing extremism. The Berlin-based Die Vielen will present their work and recent actions in two working sessions. Questions about how, where, when, with whom and in what way are very welcome. Other action alliances and initiatives will be guests in this working session (including BFDK/Programm: Demokratie fördern). The aim is to transfer knowledge and share experiences as well as practical and proven examples of how each individual can actively get involved.

11:45–13:15, Hochzeitssaal Sophiensæle
Practise: “Hitler salutes and theater pistols”
Lecture by Oliver Zahn on the thresholds at which art stops.

Using practical examples from over 10 years of artistic research, Oliver Zahn looks at the dividing lines between what is permitted as art and what is instead prohibited by law - from the Hitler salute to recent terrorist attacks in Germany.

Keynotes

14:30–15:45, Chamäleon Theater
“Voluntariness - an ingenious concept”
Impulse from Sookee (musician, anti-fascist, mother)

The world is complex and not fair. Marginalized people in particular are subject to enormous external regulations that structurally drill into their lives. What possibilities do we have to shape society progressively in the intersection of critical self-determination and lived solidarity in such a way that we are neither threatened by bitter activist burnout nor does feel-good activism water down radical concerns?

“Hate”
Impulse by Şeyda Kurt (journalist, author, speaker)

Alongside her current book “Hass”, journalist and author Şeyda Kurt talks about a “politics of feelings” and thus opens up a space for thought in which surprising insights into personal and political emotional states emerge and “strategic emotions” become (tangible) as potentials for empowerment and resistance in the political space/struggle.

“Shadow democracies: The subcutaneous in law-making”
Impulse by Luce deLire (philosopher, author, media theorist)

We have observed a double movement in recent years: Legislation is retreating behind the courts and individual responsibility. At the same time, it is creating sub-legislative, subcutaneous norms that may not be justiciable, but are nevertheless effective. The result is a depoliticization of politics in the light of a shadow democracy.

Working phase II: Workshops & discourse formats

16:00–17:30, Chamäleon Theater
Knowledge: “Denazify yourselves!”
Workshop with Luce deLire

Using original texts, this workshop is dedicated to strategies with which the courts of the young Federal Republic of Germany left Nazi crimes unpunished. It will also look at the role of German jurisprudence in the financial stabilization of West Germany in the 1950s and 60s. Finally, using the example of rights for trans people in the Self-Determination Act, the continuities of these practices in the present will be discussed.

16:00–17:30, Kantine Sophiensæle
Alliances: THE ART OF STAYING MANY
Discussion and networking with the Berlin initiative Die Vielen (part 2)
Moderation: Eva Hartmann

In two working sessions, Berlin's Die Vielen will present their work and recent actions – the second part in the afternoon will focus on upcoming actions and projects, their planning, organization and participation. Questions about how, where, when, with whom and in what way are very welcome.

16:00–17:30, Hochzeitssaal Sophiensæle
Practice: “Why didn't anyone tell me?”
About an open and aggressive culture of remembrance
A workshop by i can be your translator (Linda Fisahn, Christoph Rodatz)

Wer nicht weiß, kann nicht erinnern. 2015 entschied sich die Gruppe i can be your translator, sich mit den so genannten Euthanasie-Morden an Menschen mit Behinderung im Nationalsozialismus zu beschäftigen. Einige Mitglieder hatten schon etwas von diesem Thema gehört. Einige wären selber davon betroffen gewesen. Und einigen war das Thema vorenthalten worden, um sie zu "schützen“. In ihrer zweijährigen Recherche für das Stück „Das Konzept bin ich" stellte die Gruppe fest, wie groß die Lücken bei der Aufarbeitung und der Erinnerung an die Morde noch immer sind und welche Kontinuitäten sich bis heute nachzeichnen lassen. Im Rahmen des Workshops berichtet i can be your translator von ihren oft herausfordernden, künstlerischen Arbeitsprozessen und erproben einige ihrer Herangehensweisen.

Performances

19:00, Hochzeitssaal (Sophiensæle)
“Bitter Fields”
Performance by les dramaturx

Bitter Fields is an activist research revue consisting of ¾ white spots, ⅝ dramatic trains of thought and 100% flashes of insight. The performance collective les dramaturx ask themselves whether there is a connection between the rise of the political right and climate change, and they come to the bitter realization that they themselves are much more entangled than they would like.

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20:30, Festsaal (Sophiensæle)
“The Last Supper”
Performance by MEXA

Based on the Last Supper, the Brazilian collective MEXA invites you to a banquet performance about farewells. Between dishes and stories, the performers' lives intertwine with religious motifs. A celebratory and thought-provoking evening about the duty to tell the stories of those who cannot tell them – and an explosive moment of union that renews the vow of solidarity.

More information and tickets