Deep(ening) Diversity
A practical examination of the study “Diversification processes in the children’s and youth theatre festival scene” as part of the Perspektiv:Wechsel project
Sunday, 1 June 2025, 10:00-13:00; tanzhaus nrw Studio 5
Led by: Dr Özlem Canyürek, ZOE
How can the knowledge gained from academic studies be concretely implemented in artistic practice? As artists and art professionals, what does it take to naturally and effectively absorb the discourse into our bodies? With research and discourse as a basis, we need to find the courage to get started and take action!
In a practical workshop format, cultural scholar Dr Özlem Canyürek and interdisciplinary performance artist ZOE (Marie-Zoe Buchholz) will attempt to combine discourse and practice. Dr Özlem Canyürek’s study “Diversification processes in the children’s and youth theatre festival scene”, which has already been presented in various contexts and formats throughout Germany, will serve as the basis. This collaboration between Dr Özlem Canyürek and ZOE will focus more on practical application and implementation in one’s own body than on coming together to re-read and re-hash the findings. Because, of course, we have all read the study already!
Participation is free of charge
Participants: max. 20 people
Language: German/English as required
The ASSITEJ programme PERSPEKTIV:WECHSEL commissioned the research for this study in 2022. Dr Özlem Canyürek was able to use the KJTZ (Children’s and Youth Theatre Centre) archive to conduct research on festivals in the scene.
https://jungespublikum.de/foerdern/buendnis-perspektivwechsel/#forschungsbericht
Research was sponsored by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media with funding from the “Promoting Connections” programme of the Bundesverband Freie Darstellende Künste e.V.
Dr Özlem Canyürek is a freelance cultural scholar, researcher and lecturer. Her research focuses on marginalised knowledge, narratives and aesthetics in the performing arts. She has investigated diversification processes in the performing arts for Fonds Darstellende Künste (2021) and in children’s and youth theatre for ASSITEJ Germany (2023), with an emphasis on practice-oriented, pluralistic approaches to cultural policy.
ZOE is an interdisciplinary performance artist and curator from Düsseldorf. In her work, she reflects on rehabilitation, transformation and the (re)appropriation of body and space as well as the relationship between power and marginalisation. Her artistic practice is a kind of interdisciplinary storytelling composed of aesthetic and sound elements from voguing and ballroom, physical theatre, club dance styles, spoken word and vocal music. Since 2012, ZOE has collaborated on various stage productions and festival formats throughout Germany and later began staging her own works. Since 2021, she has produced formats with the collective Shapes & Shades, which she co-founded to promote ballroom culture in NRW, in a permanent cooperation with Theatermuseum Düsseldorf. In 2022, ZOE was honoured for her artistic and cultural work with the German ballroom community’s first Community Legacy Award and the Performing Arts Advancement Award 2022 of the state capital Düsseldorf.
registration for the workshop Deep(ening) Diversity
Legal stress
Sunday, 1 June, 10:00-13:00, at FFT Düsseldorf
Arise from powerlessness, dive into activist art.
Radically democratic: approaches to performance art and artistic activism transform anger into action.
With: Radikale Töchter
Racism, the climate crisis and disenchantment with politics: the world needs radical new ideas and measures if it wants to solve its challenges and problems. But above all, it needs one thing: more courage! That’s why we come together to bolster our boldness in our workshops. We share approaches to performance art and artistic activism. We talk about movements, our methods of artivism and forming visions and alliances so as to inspire others to take action themselves. Using the means of performance art, we enable you to formulate your concerns and goals and develop ways to achieve them. A political, creative, activating workshop that inspires you to take a stance.
Foto: Nadia Westerwald
Kasia Wojcik Kasia Wojcik is a curator, dramaturge and author specialised in the topics of flight and migration. As part of IIPM / Milo Rau, she developed the award-winning discourse format School of Resistance (2020-2022) as lead curator. She also realised the transdisciplinary film, performance and exhibition series Constitución Nómada in Colchane (Chile), Athens and Berlin. In 2024 through a curatorial collective with the photographers Chiara Wettmann and Michél Kekulé, she conceived the interdisciplinary exhibition RE:BORDERS at Kunstquartier Bethanien and subsequently set up Re:Borders e.V., an association for innovative cultural formats. She has had poetry published by “Literarische Diverse” and journal articles by “Performance Research” and “Cuadernos de Teoria Social”.
Online: @kasiarsis & www.kasiawojcik.de
Lenn Blaschke: virtual border crosser, media artist and member of Radikale Töchter
Lenn explores the interfaces between virtual reality, digital spaces and multimedia conceptual art. His work questions the boundaries between reality and virtuality and comments on current (political) developments. He studied media arts in Leipzig and Ljubljana, is co-founder of the collective THIS IS FAKE and campaigns for privacy and autonomy with Little Brother e.V. His works have been featured in museums, art associations and at international festivals—preferably collaboratively and always with a critical look at our digital future.
registration for the workshop Legal stress
Anti Fake News
Sunday, 1 June, 10 am to 1 pm, at the FFT Düsseldorf
How can we recognise fake narratives and, above all, how should we react to them—personally and as theatre makers?
With: Marcello V. Orlik from the anti-fake news blog Volksverpetzer
Introduction
Presentation: Fake news? What exactly is that and why is it harmful to us?
Dialogue: What kinds of things have you fallen for in the past? What has stuck in your mind?
A Detailed Look
Presentation: What types of fake news are there and who is behind them? How do fact checkers work?
What is the Streisand effect? Experiment: fact or fake?
Straight Talk
Presentation: What should we look out for? How can we recognise fake news? How can we all make the world a little better?
Dialogue: tips & tricks for everyday life
Marcello V. Orlik has served as relations manager at the anti-fake news blog Volksverpetzer (VVP) since 2021. Originally exclusively at home in the world of business administration, IT, procurement and start-ups, since starting as an author at VVP in 2017 he has increasingly focussed on democracy, politics and clarifying conspiracy myths on a daily basis.
Specialising in online journalism and corporate communications, he is passionate about a wide range of educational topics, communications/press/PR and networking within politics and beyond. He takes attacks on our democracy personally and does his best to counter them.