On November 27th 2021, from 2pm to 7pm, two teams of artists will be presenting the results of their work created for the second chapter, entitled Listening, on site of the Humboldt Forum. 

Throughout the afternoon, you will be able to watch urban dance interventions performed by 11 young Berlin dancers who will interpret and re-contextualise the meaning of gestures and physical codes in varying cultural contexts, and discover forms of “Listening* Activism” explored by members of Berlin’s Deaf Community and FELD Theatre, together with the Humboldt Forum’s visitors.

The performances will be framed with discussion events that take up the themes of the works. “If I ruled the World”… Zeichen der Zeit, by Joy Alpuerto Ritter and Lukas Steltner, together with the musician Elsa M’Bala (aka A.M.E.T.), scrutinises the prejudices of a normative society. What and who defines ‘the norm’; what is deviant behaviour? How can we shift the norm? The presence of the moving bodies will tell their own individual stories, but they also represent the diverse and vibrant Berlin of today.

“One could say that the way we pass on history shapes the perception of events, individuals and ethnical, cultural or social groups within a certain cultural context. Who decides about ‘truth’ and ‘lies’, and how do people perceive it?”

Through verbal and non-verbal exchange Viviana Defazio, Diana Sirianni and Jolika Sudermann cultivate with “Listening* Activism” a state of deep listening among the project participants and the visitors of the Humboldt Forum. The listening practice allows for the singularity of each person to become visible. It gives space to each person’s intellectual, emotional and physical responses to structural questions like: how does the architectural symbolism of the building influence your visit to the Humboldt Forum? These multiple individual processes gather in the shaping of a mindful, focused collective body that generates rebellious actions in order to disrupt the behavioural code of the Schloss and undermine its architecture of power.

“A world is always as many worlds as it takes to make a world.” Jean-Luc Nancy