Breaking the Canon

Preview To The Conference

»Canon«, a - controversial, changeable, but nonetheless powerful - collection of works that are collectively ascribed outstanding importance. Works belonging to the so-called canon are published in editions of classics, staged in theatres for decades and centuries, reviewed in the feuilleton, awarded literary prizes, translated, taught in school and universities. Due to structural racism, ableism, classism or sexism, only a few have the power to define what becomes part of the canon and who can find themselves in it. The social selection of these works exerts violence: through erasure, appropriation, economic discrimination, reproduction of discrimination. But what to do with the canon? Dismantle, transform, overwrite, infiltrate, explode, archive, start again?

• The program on Friday and Sunday will take place with live audience at Kampnagel in K2, and be streamed online. Seats on large pillows are available by booking a place in the first row. The program on Saturday will only take place digitally.

• All parts of the live program will be streamed live in Zoom Webinar and on Kampnagel’s Vimeo channel.

• Some parts of the program are in spoken German, some in spoken English. Simultaneous audio translation to both languages will be available in Zoom and in Vimeo. In Vimeo, both English and German subtitles will be available for all parts of the live program. The streaming on Vimeo will remain online after the conference.

• During the Q&As, you can ask question via the chat in Zoom Webinar, or by sending your question in a text message (the phone number will be displayed during the stream)

Research-in-progress: An Interview-series About Racism In German Theaters, By Maya Alban-zapata & Miriam Ibrahim

18:00 / 20 min.

Racism in German theaters is unfortunately no exception but a systematic reality. Of course, this experience often remains invisible to people who are not negatively affected by it. But behind the discrimination of Black artists and artists of color lies a deeply rooted idea of the »cultural canon« that unconsciously defines »culture« and determines what is universal and what is special. This results not only in homogenic repertoires, but also in structural barriers to BIPoC. If working within these systems is too exhausting and violent to participate in the long run, or accessing them is not possible in the first place, then we must speak of an exclusion of these groups from their right to cultural voice and representation. In the coming months, Miriam Ibrahim and Maya Alban-Zapata plan to conduct an interview-based research with theater professionals in Germany about their experiences with racism. In this short preview, they will share what goals they are pursuing with their research.

• Screening on Vimeo Kampnagel • In spoken German