In the Dream House
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| free admission |
| Seminar room 2a/b |
| 12 years and older |
| English, German |
In The Dream House is a self-care workshop series set within a beautiful, temporary, house-like installation at the Humboldt Forum. Conceived especially for the Themedays, it explores self-care and care work as responses e.g. to domestic chaos. It offers short and open-format workshops on ancestral healing and care for caretakers and careworkers, among other themes. The workshops are conceived of and led by artist and experienced workshop facilitator Anguezomo Bikoro (Gabon/Germany) as well as artist and Yogi Nane Kahle (Senegal/Germany).
In The Dream House (2023–) is a continuous workshop and installation-project open to everyone. It is focused on practices of de-traumatization through somatic, holistic, and spiritual healing methods originally used for people, who have been exposed to institutional and domestic abuse. The artist builds intersectional healing practices informed by certifications in herbalism and decolonial therapy, studied in London, the U.S., and Berlin. Forms of bodywork such as tap therapy, EMDR, sonic healing, medicinal therapy, herbalism, decolonial yoga, and Obeah ritual are used as guides to develop pathways toward a sustainable life of inner peace.
Inspired by the novels In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, the project combines a series of interventions and invocations — including installations, live rituals, mobile archive libraries, reading groups, workshops, public talks, film screenings, and radio shows — to support those affected by toxic cycles.
The project is realized in collaboration with human rights organizations, lawyers, activists, therapists, artists and social workers. Contributors include: International Women Space, Ausland, ECCHR, Nane Kahle, Lee Modupeh Anansi Freeman, Mitolili, Adrian Marie Blount, Bino Byansi Byakuleka, Care, Kunstquartier Bethanien, Tempelhof LGBTQ Police Department, Les Migras, and Refuge Worldwide.
On October 3 and 4, four workshops will take place each day at the Humboldt Forum.
Registration is recommended to secure a spot (different topics and time slots).
Limited drop-in participation is possible. The installation can be viewed at any time.
With Anguezomo Nzé Mba Bikoro
“Reflecting on stories of conflict, war, and liberation movements, Roots of Our Hands intertwines poetry with collective herbal tea meditations in an intimate setting. Participants engage in tea rituals with blossoms that connect colonial histories to practices of healing and community strength.” Anguezomo Bikoro
Plant selections include: Blue Butterfly Pea, Djin, Lavender, Ruta, Nettle.
The workshop will take place on Friday from 12:00 to 13:00 in German and on Saturday from 12:00 to 13:00 in English.
With Anguezomo Nzé Mba Bikoro and Khalipha Ababacar Sy (Live Performance & Meditation)
“This session includes breath meditations for regulating the nervous system, accompanied by live music and visual elements by Khalipha Ababacar Sy.
Participants are provided with calming oils and balms to ease anxiety. Through carefully arranged healing plants, they explore how stories about plants can inspire pathways to liberation in times of crisis.” Anguezomo Bikoro
Oils include: Thiouraye (tree bark oil), Almond oil, Coconut oil, Lavender oil.
The workshop will take place on Friday from 14:00 to 15:00 in English and on Saturday from 16:00 to 17:00 in German.
With Anguezomo Nzé Mba Bikoro and Khalipha Ababacar Sy
“This session weaves botanical traditions with creative writing. Participants develop new ‘exit strategies’ from challenging life situations, drawing on traditional plant knowledge. Through visual collages and storytelling, the workshop explores how plants can become sources of protection and liberation.” — Anguezomo Bikoro
Plant selections include: Sisal, Common Comfrey.
The workshop will take place on Friday from 16:00 to 17:00 in German.
With Anguezomo Nzé Mba Bikoro and Khalipha Ababacar Sy (Friday) and Lydia Röder (Saturday)
“The workshop focuses on body practices rooted in Kemet traditions (Egyptian methods of body alignment). Participants experience sound healing and movement, accompanied by live music on the Kora, a traditional West African instrument. At its core lies the connection between breath, body, sound, and ancestral knowledge.” — Anguezomo Bikoro
The workshop will take place on Friday from 18:00 to 18:45 in German and on Saturday from 18:00 to 19:30 in English.
with Anguezomo Nzé Mboulou Mba Bikoro and Nane Kahle
Nane Kahle and Anguezomo Bikoro discuss how paths of escape and reinvention can be opened even within exploitative landscapes. Drawing on the agricultural revolutions of Anton Wilhelm Amo and Amílcar Cabral, as well as the knowledge of Black feminist botanists, strategies of survival, resistance, and futurism are brought to light.
The workshop will take place on Saturday from 14:00 to 15:00 in English.
Participants
Anguezomo Nzé Mba Bikoro is an interdisciplinary visual artist, writer, somatic body therapist, human rights community worker and curator supporting BiPOC and queer groups using integrative approaches that combines humanistic and abolitionist-inspired methods, de-traumatisation tools alongside cognitive behavioural therapy (notably for C-PTSD) and ancestral healing work. Their abolitionist approach is shaped through decolonial embodied practices and awareness of racism, discrimination and gender identity. Their practice honours queer histories and indigenous struggles centering Bakongo Cosmology, Obeah and Orixa practices that empowers communities and shares resources to create tools of safety towards self-awareness & transformation in mental health. Their works on herbalism and ancestral healing often exposes the interwoven colonial histories of migration and ecologies in site-specific spaces to dismantle prejudices and create independent emancipatory tools for liberation, education, and reparation. They spent the last years in support with human rights organisations using paraecologies as forensic tools for court cases in advocating for human justice of murdered Black women in German refugee camps through plant echo-logies and sonic vibration, mineral herz of oceans, geological soils and rock formations to trace colonial human land displacement, agricultural warfare and genocide in Namibia, Gabon, Kenya and Morocco to create anti-colonial meditations and archive colonial crimes inside German history.
Khalipha Ababacar Sy is a professional Kora player from Senegal based in Berlin. He has coached and facilitated various educational workshops in Germany, France and Senegal.
Nane Kahle is an artist, musician, yogi, and interdisciplinary researcher who has woven her diverse cultural heritage and nomadic journeys into her creative endeavors. Originating from the Ivory Coast and spending her formative years in Senegal and the Caribbean, before passing by in France and finally settling in Berlin. Her compositions resonate with ancestral rhythms and ritualistic chants. She combines her exploration of biochemist science, artificial intelligence and data technologies with ritual practices, to illuminate the dynamic relationship between humanity, nature, and the cosmos.
Since 1988, Lydia Röder has supported people at the end of life. After over 20 years managing an outpatient hospice service, she works independently as a lecturer on dying, death, and grief. She’s a certified instructor for palliative care and interprofessional spiritual care courses, a supervisor, yoga teacher, and grief counselor. Her work combines physical, emotional, social, and spiritual support to ensure dignity and meaning at life’s end. Through teaching, counseling, sound massage, and workshops, she promotes a holistic approach that honors each person’s unique journey.