For a brief moment in sync
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| German |
| Mechanical Arena in the Foyer |
Authors and creative artists read texts that bear the weight of time – in order to withstand it.
Since the outbreak of the Russian war against Ukraine, since the Hamas attack on civilians in southern Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent war by the Israeli army against the people of Gaza, since the presidential elections in the USA and the latest political developments in Germany, many people have felt great pressure to act. At the same time, many who have long campaigned for cohesion and understanding are withdrawing. Most of them feel desperate, helpless and disorientated, and in some cases also have the feeling that they are not allowed to speak.
This also and especially applies to ‘people of the word’, who perhaps currently feel a special responsibility to raise their voices against disenfranchisement, hardening and discursive constrictions as well as against increasing structural, psychological and physical violence. However, differences are also increasing among people of the word due to differences in experience and the resulting different assessments of the situation. The writers and authors Luna Ali, Katja Artsiomenka, Maryam Aras, Priya Basil, Lena Gorelik and Insa Wilke show that there are still and always will be connections: By bringing literary texts by other authors that are able to carry the weight of time for them and point the way out of it or even just synchronise current inner states. An evening that looks to the past, the present and – together – to the future.
Schedule
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM: WARM UP with music
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM: READING FOR OUR TIME
7:00 – 8:00 PM: WINDING DOWN with Scampylama Sound
Beteiligte
Priya Basil is an author, and curator of the Humboldt Forum project Objects Talk Back. In her book Be My Guest/Gastfreundschaft (2019), she combines memoir, philosophy, food and politics in a reflection on hospitality in the broadest sense. Her most recent book Im Wir und Jetzt: Feministin Werden (2021) combines politics with the personal, as does her film essay on memory-culture and belonging, Locked In and Out (2020), which can be seen online.
She is co-founder and board member of WIR MACHEN DAS, an NGO that works with refugees and migrants for a more inclusive society. Priya is also a member of the advisory board of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights. She has conceptualized and curated projects for various institutions including the Goethe Institut and International Literature Festival Berlin. From 2021 to 2023 Priya was International Writer in Residence for Mindscapes, a project of the Wellcome Trust UK, devoted to transforming how we understand, talk about and treat mental health. As part of this Priya undertook a research journey which spanned six continents to learn about different understandings of well being and practices of healing. In 2024, Priya is Writer in Residence with Wellcome’s new Climate and Health project. She is working on a new book which draws on her research and travels.
Insa Wilke is a literary critic who writes for Süddeutsche Zeitung and German public radio. Until 2024, she was a member of the lesenswert quartet on SWR television. In early 2024, she drew attention with her own literary platform Café lit. More information at www.insawilke.de and www.cafelit.de.
Dr. phil. Patrick Helber studied History and Political Science in Tübingen and Dublin and received his PhD in Modern and Contemporary History in Heidelberg in 2014. His book “Dancehall and Homophobia” is about postcolonial perspectives on Jamaican history and culture. He lives in Berlin, works at the Ethnological Museum as a research assistant in the field of education and outreach, and hosts a radio program on Caribbean popular culture. In addition, Patrick Helber has been putting out reggae, ska and dancehall on vinyl under the name Scampylama Sound since 2003.