• Wed 26 08 2020 •
Exophony:
zwischensprachensprechen
with KRISHNA ADELBERGER , LOLITA AGATEP, SAKIYE BOUKARI, JANE DUNKER, SARA FARAHZADI, JUSTIN FONKEU NKWADI, JUSTIN HERLTH, ANTJE KABUS, NADA MAHMOUD, BEHSHID NAJAFI, MIRJAM PIETCHAMOA, ZARLASHT SEDIGI, CEREN SENGÜLEN, SABRI SPAHIJA, WOLFGANG TIEDT, NIKLAS TIJE-DRA, WOLFGANG WEWER, DIANA ZOZA
Facilitators: BRIDGET FONKEU, BASSAM GHAZI, DAVID VOGEL
Exophony: zwischensprachensprechen is an exercise in weaving together different tracks of multiligualism that coexist in the lived-in urban culture. Conceptualized initially as a theater-based workshop-performance, the program had to change its setup due to COVID-19–related social distancing. In its new format Exophony: zwischensprachensprechen is a performance video in which diverse lingual experiences, perceptions and poetics are woven together in a series of testimonies.
The performers, speakers, protagonists in this video are members of Import Export Kollektiv (an initiative that works with young adults from diverse communities and language groups) and Old School at Schauspiel Köln (a theater initiative for senior citizens) and at the Silent University Ruhr (an initiative that assists immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers in getting their qualifications and skills recognized in the German system). Some of them are monolingual and some are multilingual, but all of them belong to communities and identities that exist outside the hegemonic and normative center. Through their testimonies on languaging, they highlight the multiple and fluid nature of contemporary urban culture, expressing some anxieties about living outside the norm, but most importantly they share strategies of living together with cultural and ethnic differences. Sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous and occasionally angry, the texts were developed through a series of online exercises and interactions during the COVID-19 lockdown.
There is no subtitling in order to preserve the rhythm and texture of multilinguality.
Exophony: zwischensprachensprechen is a part of the Exophony: program, which explores the processes of writing, reading and listening, manipulations of and through language as well as interaction and communication. There is a particular focus on experiences of and with multilingualism, translation and translatability. Exophony: offers the opportunity to collectively rethink communication structures and language practices and to explore the diversity and simultaneity of a shared language landscape.
The event Exophony: zwischensprachensprechen is organized in cooperation with Schauspiel Köln and Silent University Ruhr.
The program series Exophony: is funded by Kunststiftung NRW.
