Radical Jewish Cultural Days

In times of flight and migration, “integration” is frequently invoked like a magic word. Due to an insurgence of nationalistic tendencies, there is growing uneasiness as to what lies behind the wish of the majority society for cultural assimilation. On the other hand, there are many who recognise that coexistence in diversity is a central challenge of the present day. The “Radical Jewish Cultural Days” – an event which took place at the “Autumn Salon” (Herbstsalon) at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin – was based on the motto of “Disintegration”. The festival provided an example of disintegration which, though not fully applicable to all minorities because of the specific historical foil of European Judaism, can serve as the starting point for a critical debate about the concept of integration. The participants of the “Autumn Salon” aim to continue developing the idea of disintegration as a social concept in collaboration with European artists and multipliers. The objective is to challenge the expectations and demands of the respective majority society, regain control of one’s history and build new networks. Such were the goals of the Radical Jewish Cultural Days at the Gorki Theater, a two-week festival featuring plays, readings, lecture performances, concerts, films and artistic actions. The “Young Council”, a think-tank founded by Esra Kücük and comprised of 24 young adults from Berlin, presented the Berlin International Post-Migrant Manifesto at the conclusion of the Autumn Salon.

Artistic director: Shermin Langhoff
Curators: Max Czollek, Sasha Marianna Salzmann, Aljoscha Begrich, Cağla Ilk (TR), Erden Kosova (TR)

Artists: Banu Cennetoğlu (TR), Sapir Heller (IL), Tobias Herzberg, Sven Johne, Daniel Kahn (US), Adi Keissar (IL), Grada Kilomba (PT), Delaine & Damian Le Bas (GB), Johannes Paul-Raether, Wermke-Leinkauf, Sivan Ben Yishai (IL)