[Still] Claiming Common Spaces: Community of Practice
New Communism in Austerity? Sharing Survival Tactics & Aesthetics of Community
Die siebte Ausgabe des Claiming Common Spaces Festivals widmet sich Fragestellungen nach dem zu erwartenden »konservativen Turn«, bei dem soviel schon sicher ist: Die diverse und multikulturelle Gesellschaft muss weiterhin und neu verteidigt werden. In der Community of Practice treffen kulturelle Akteur*innen aufeinander, die an der Schnittstelle zwischen Aktivismus, Kunst und Community-Building arbeiten und Erfahrungen damit gesammelt haben, auch mit knappen Ressourcen Berge zu versetzen und in solidarischen Netzwerken miteinander zu arbeiten – trotz, gegen oder wegen der Verhältnisse. welche innovativen Potentiale stecken in künstlerischen Mikro-Ökonomien, kreativem Wirtschaften und solidarischer Praxis? Wer hat welche erfolgreichen Best-Practice-Formen erfunden und kann die Erfahrungen weitergeben? Jedes Bündnis-Haus entsendet eine*n Resident*in, die am 3-tägigen Programm im Migrantpolitan unter der künstlerischen Leitung von Anas Aboura und Larry Macaulay in einen Praxisaustausch treten. In der abschließenden »public session« öffnet das Migrantpolitan seine Türen, um die frisch gewonnen Erkenntnisse zu teilen! Still claiming solidarity!
Mit: Alma Wellner Bou, Boye Diallo, Gabriel Carneiro, Kathrin Ebmeier, Katja Cheraneva, Zwoisy Mears-Clarke, Mike Dele Dittrich Frydetzki
Künstlerische Leitung: Anas Aboura, Larry Macaulay
Teilnehmer*innen:
Alma Wellner Bou grew up in Spain and Germany. She works as an artist, project manager, and curator in Berlin. Alma studied Applied Theater Studies in Giessen, Paris, and Beirut. She is part of the artist group Peira (www.peira.space), director of the award-winning feminist hip hop platform SISTERQUEENS, and curates artistic, performative discussion series and international collaborations. In addition to her freelance work, Alma is on the management team of the Ulme35 community and cultural center.
Boye Diallo is a performer and fashion designer (member of the fashion collective „Hools of Fashion“) – his artistic creativity has led to collaborations with groups such as God’s Entertainment and Sibylle Peters. Boye fled Gambia and has lived in Germany for eight years.
Gabriel Carneiro (GABS_) works at the intersection of theater and performance. With a theater degree from Brazil and a Master’s in Scenic Research from Ruhr University Bochum, GABS_ has been developing interdisciplinary projects on migration, antiracist sustainability, and queer ecologies from a Global South perspective since 2006. Living between the Ruhr region and Minas Gerais, Brazil, GABS_ co-organizes the MIGRANTENNALE, showcasing migrant artists and aesthetics from the Global South in NRW, and DESVIO-SÜD, a residency for Latin American artists in Germany.
Kathrin Ebmeier (Cologne, Ruhr area) is an artist in various formats: K performs on stages, designs events and spaces, and develops dramaturgies that invite visitors into fictional times and environments. Ebmeier also arranges installations with diverse materials, texts, and conversations to showcase the good life for everyone – or paths to it. Ebmeier also works with silk painting to revel in and explore various feminist and lesbian idylls. As part of the Anna Kpok theater crew, initiator of the queer Oval Office Bar & founding member of KosmoPolis e.V., and co-organizer of Bonanzafest, Kathrin frequently participates in collectives. The boundaries between Kpok’s activism and art work are fluid. Currently, Ebmeier is working on topics such as sabotage.
Katja Cheraneva is a freelance dancer and choreographer based in Frankfurt. She holds a diploma from HfMDK Frankfurt and an MA from CuP, ATW Giessen. Her work explores themes such as rehearsal, learning/unlearning, and memory. A former member of The Forsythe Company (2010–2015), she has collaborated with choreographers like Fabrice Mazliah and visual artists such as Anne Imhof. She co-founded HOOD collective which held an artistic fellowship at PACT Zollverein (2016–2019), and managed the Werkstatt project space (2021–2023) in Frankfurt.
Zwoisy Mears-Clarke is a choreographer of the encounter. This applies to their approach both as a community organizer and as a choreographer. Zwoisy initiated the “Community of Reception”, a laboratory hosted by tanzhaus nrw, and was subsequently joined by choreographer Sophia/Fia Neises as co-leader. Launched in April 2023, the lab fosters exploration of audio description for dance alongside the principles of aesthetics of access, bringing together members of the blind and low-vision community, as well as with NRW-based dance artists in a shared, creative research process.
Mike Dele Dittrich Frydetzki, who grew from Wilthen and Bautzen, studied cultural and theater studies in Hildesheim, Giessen, and Warsaw. A member of the Initiative for Solidarity in Theater, Mike has been researching (non)consensual communication in rehearsals at Berlin University of the Arts since 2022. He was a takecare/takeheart fellow and directed IN ZUNGEN: HEXEN HAUFEN KONSENS* (2023). His solo works include Tongue Code (Ghent) and Weak Resistance (HELLERAU/Warsaw). In 2024, he co-created the radio play Personal Ads – Queer Generational Dialogues in East Germany (Deutschlandfunk Kultur), now touring as an intergenerational listening session. Mike also supports Pride with a solidarity shirt.
Curation / Host Team:
Anas Aboura is a Syrian artist, DJ, and curator based in Hamburg. As a curator at Kampnagel, he focuses on music projects and migrant-politan activities. Aboura realizes projects such as „Oriental Karaoke,“ which brings the atmosphere of Middle Eastern karaoke bars to Hamburg, and „Revolutionary Souq – A Virtual Bazaar,“ an interactive platform for the exchange of ideas and cultures. Through his work, he promotes dialogue about identity, migration, and cultural diversity.
Larry Macaulay is the founder of the Refugee Radio Network (RRN), an online radio station that gives refugees and migrants a voice and addresses issues such as displacement and social integration. He is also a co-founder of Migrantpolitan, where he has been active in all artistic projects for the past 10 years. Larry works at the intersection of new media, art, and activism.