LAB & KONFERENZ
"VIELFÄLTIGER OSTEN"

LAB VIELFÄLTIGER OSTEN

During LAB VIELFÄLTIGER OSTEN, artists, venue managers and festival curators from Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt were able to work together in the digital space with dialogue partners from the neighbouring countries of Poland, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. In a moderated dialogue, they reflected on their shared experiences and developed strategies for dealing with social and political challenges. The topics discussed included the changing working conditions for the independent performing arts, the role of artistic work as a form of activism and how to deal with increasing attacks and restrictions due to political influence and the risk of self-censorship.

The further thematic focus was demand-oriented and based on the individual concerns of the participants and the expertise of the international dialogue partners from the independent performing arts. The approximately 30 participants of the LAB VIELFÄLTIGER OSTEN were selected via an open call.

Following the exchange programme, a communication kit will be created that can also be used as a tool for other cultural actors to become aware of their own position and strategy in dealing with political forces

Contact LAB:
Sarah Biering
projektkoordination@freie-theater-sachsen.de

KONFERENZ VIELFÄLTIGER OSTEN - Art in the field of tension between political realities

As part of a final conference held on 3 June 2025 at the Variabel Theater in Olbernhau (Saxony, Capital of Culture Region), the results of the previous exchange were presented and expanded to include specialist knowledge from other experts in the fields of culture, law, administration and civil society. There were networking opportunities with committed regional and international stakeholders, practical hands-on workshops, in-depth panel discussions and keynote speeches by and with experts in the following subject areas:

Transnational perspectives on strengthening democracy through the independent performing arts
Challenges posed by cultural struggles from the right and counter-strategies
Legal framework conditions between the neutrality requirement, political commitment and non-profit status
Recommendations for dealing with threats and attacks

The conference was largely held in English and was aimed in particular at those involved in the independent performing arts, but also welcomed cultural professionals and interested parties from other fields.

DATE: 3 June 2025
(accompanying programme on 2 and 4 June 2025 | further education format and network meeting docked to the conference on 3 June 2025)
LOCATION: Theater Variabel, Markt 5, 09526 Olbernhau (Saxony, Capital of Culture Region)

Programme conference - 3 June 2025

3 June 2025
CONFERENCE

10.00 - 10.30 am
Welcome & opening
Moderation: Caroline Galvis (actress / puppeteer / moderator)
English

10.30 - 11.00 am | Keynote
Cultural struggle from the right - politics and civil society in transition
Prof. Dr. Stefan Garsztecki (Professor of Cultural and Area Studies of East Central Europe, TU Chemnitz)
Englisch

11.00 am - 12.30 pm | Lecture
Neutrality and party equality as barriers to art, freedom of expression and political engagement
Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Hufen (Professor emeritus of Public Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz / former member of the Constitutional Court of Rhineland-Palatinate)
German / translation into English spoken language if required

11.00 am - 12.30 pm | Table talk
Transnational exchange: art as a political tool
Moderation: Caroline Galvis (actress / puppeteer / moderator)
English

12.30 - 1.30 pm
Lunch with NETZWERKTREFFEN TANZ
Indra Genning (project team member of the Dachverband Tanz Deutschland e.V.)
German / English

1.30 - 3.00 pm | Workshops

Workshop 1
Possible courses of action - a joint approach
VERBUND MITTE:OST with Maria Gebhardt (managing director of the Landeszentrum Freies Theater Sachsen-Anhalt e.V.) and Tanja Matjas (project manager of FREIE SZENE THÜRINGEN STÄRKEN, Thüringer Theaterverband e.V.)
English

Workshop 2
Courage-Muscle-Workshop: inspiration for effective, extraordinary forms of political participation
Marie Nele Wolfram & Luise Gabel (Radikale Töchter)
English

Workshop 3
Embodied experiences of power(lessness)
Constanze Schulte (cultural practitioner specialising in dance, movement and the body)
English, workshop with movement

Workshop 4
Activist engagement: what to do? Empathy-based artistic strategies for interventions in public space
AGENTUR FÜR with Juliane Meckert (actress / director / theater maker / theater educator) and Anna Stiede (player / performer / political communication artist)
English

3.00 - 3.30 pm
Coffee break with artistic intervention by the MECKERCHOR
(Anna Stiede, Anne Hoffmann, Juliane Meckert, Johanna Franke, Timo Behn, Bettina Grahs and Anica Happich)

3.30 - 4.30 pm | Panel talk
Art in the field of tension between political realities
Anica Happich (actress / curator / cultural-political actor), Lars Hecker (project manager of Verbindungen fördern, Bundesverband Freie Darstellende Künste e.V.), Lina Mitschke (Dachverband der Migrant*innenorganisationen in Ostdeutschland – DaMOst e.V.) and Filip Pawlak (performer / activist / curator / producer)
Moderation: Caroline Galvis (actress / puppeteer / moderator)

4.30 - 4.45 pm
Break

4.45 - 5.45 pm | Networking & table talks

Table talk 1
Discrepancies between working realities in urban and rural areas
Dr. Gustavo Fijalkow (curator / dramaturg / researcher), Anja Herbener (puppeteer) and Christian Rühl (MOBIT – mobile Beratung in Thüringen)
German / translation into English spoken language if required

Table talk 2
Transnational perspective: strengthening democracy through the independent performing arts
Filip Pawlak (performer / activist / curator / producer), Moderation: Caroline Galvis (actress / puppeteer / moderator)
English

Table talk 3
External positioning: setting boundaries vs. maintaining dialogue
VERBUND MITTE:OST with Maria Gebhardt (managing director of the Landeszentrum Freies Theater Sachsen-Anhalt e.V.), Pascal Begrich (managing director of Miteinander – Netzwerk für Demokratie und Weltoffenheit in Sachsen-Anhalt e.V.) and Paul F. Martin (pastor / head of studies at the Evangelischen Akademie Sachsen-Anhalt e.V.)
German / English

Table talk 4
Between attitude and action - ways of deradicalisation
Katharina Kraft (director / photographer), Moderation: VERBUND MITTE:OST mit Tanja Matjas (Projektleiterin FREIE SZENE THÜRINGEN STÄRKEN, Thüringer Theaterverband e.V.
English

5.45 - 6.15 pm
Wrap-Up & closing with Perfomance Recording (Nora Frohmann, Elena Strempek und Angelika Waniek)
Moderation: Caroline Galvis (actress / puppeteer / moderator)
English

from 6.15 pm
Open end: closing & get together

parallel daytime exercise | Film screening
BLICKWECHSEL - Publika und Politiken der Darstellenden Künste. A film by Janina Möbius on behalf of the Fonds Darstellende Künste
German with English subtitles

Supporting programme - 2 June 2025

2 June 2025
GET-TOGETHER

3.30 - 5.00 pm | Guided tour
Discover Olbernhau - culture in rural areas on the Saxon-Czech border
Verena Russell (staff member of the Theater Variabel Olbernhau)
German / English

5.00 - 6.30 pm | Table talk
Living democracy! Art, civil society and democracy - insights and challenges
Angela Klier (head of Partnership for Democracy Olbernhau and Surroundings / spokesperson LAG Diversity Saxony)
German / translation into English spoken language if required

Dinner together

7.30 - 9.00 pm | Film screening followed by a talk
BLICKWECHSEL - Publika und Politiken der Darstellenden Künste. A film by Janina Möbius on behalf of the Fonds Darstellende Künste
German with English subtitles

Supporting programme - 4 June 2025

4 June 2025
CLOSING

from 8.30 am
Breakfast together

10.30 - 12.00 am | Guided tour
Discover Olbernhau - culture in rural areas on the Saxon-Czech border
Verena Russell (staff member of the Theater Variabel Olbernhau)
German / English

Individual perception of the cultural offer on site