Politik im Exil
In a series of short readings, authors and musicians present texts, poems, and songs at four different locations within the Documentation Centre. Between intervals, audience members are invited to move freely between spaces and presentations.
Exhibition Hall: WTBSK – Belarusian Avantgarde in Berlin
As a star of the Belarusian underground music scene, Sveta Ben performs in various formats at renowned clubs. In 2020, she narrowly escaped imprisonment in Belarus. Together with Sergey Novitsky, she performs as WTBSK. About her current situation, she says: «Forced emigration is a terrible experience. It is full of guilt – not conscious, not logical, but deeply present».
Event Hall: Stella Gaitano and Mariam Meetra
How do human rights activists describe the country they were forced to leave? South Sudanese writer Stella Gaitano tells, in the form of a novel, the story of the lives and survival of two women in Sudan. Afghan poet Mariam Meetra writes poems about Kabul, «the saddest city in the world». Both read selected passages from their most recent works in Arabic and Farsi. With German and English surtitles.
Room of Silence: Aslı Erdoğan – Requiem for a Lost City
When Aslı Erdoğan wrote it in Turkish in 2005, her book was originally to be called «The Silence of Life». In «Hayatın Sessizliğinde», the author takes the reader on a poetic journey into the inner world of a nameless protagonist who becomes entangled in political, feminist, and cultural conflict, and is consequently forced to leave her beloved Istanbul behind. Erdoğan reads excerpts from the work with the support of actress Mariann Yar.
Library: The Poetry Project – Bahadîn Akhan, Ali Alzaeem, Razia Karimi
Bahadîn Akhan, Ali Alzaeem, and Razia Karimi were forced to flee their homes in North Kurdistan, Syria, and Afghanistan. In verse, they express their feelings and stories about the experience of living in a foreign country while their thoughts remain at home. They take turns presenting their poetry in their respective mother tongues, while actress Selin Dörtkardeş
The poets are part of The Poetry Project.
