Wir müssen reden: Solidarität unter Druck

In the organizer's words:

WE HAVE TO TALK#8: Solidarity under pressure
Talk | Hot discussion & warm cuisine A meal is prepared in an improvised "kitchen for all" and presenter Kathrin Ebmeier discusses with her guests Jamila Al-Yousef and Esther Dischereit. Afterwards, the audience is invited to eat and talk.
In cooperation with the Sommerblut Kulturfestival

Text below also in simple language

What is the state of freedom of art and expression in this country? How can, may and must we talk about war and human rights violations? How do we show compassion - for those affected by war as well as for those who are disinvited and canceled due to their political positions? And how do we express our anger about injustice?

Since October 7, 2023, the debate about the war in the Middle East has also intensified in Germany. In politics, the media and especially in the arts and culture sector, questions of solidarity and freedom of art and expression in relation to anti-Semitism and racism are highly polarized. Artists are being disinvited, events are being canceled and institutions are coming under pressure. At the same time, voices that struggle for a differentiated, empathetic stance and cannot be clearly reduced to one position or opinion are being excluded.

How is radical empathy possible under these conditions? How can we name human rights violations against Palestinians as well as increasing anti-Semitism without being canceled? How can cultural institutions open up spaces for differentiated debate and enable empathy for all civilians affected by war - and how free is art, how free are artists, when political conflicts lead to new boundaries being drawn in this country too?

Together with guests from art, literature and political practice, we will talk about solidarity in the field of tension between war, public debate and the cultural sector - and about how dialog can remain possible despite the increasing pressure to position oneself.

Simple language:

How free are art and opinion in Germany?
How can we talk about war and human rights violations?
How do we show compassion for people at war - and also for people who are excluded because of their opinions?
And how can we show our anger about injustice?

Since October 7, 2023, there has been a lot of controversy in Germany about the war in the Middle East.
In politics, the media and culture, there are strong opinions and a lot of controversy.
It is often about solidarity in relation to anti-Semitism and racism.

Some artists are disinvited.
Events are being canceled.
Cultural venues are also under pressure.
At the same time, people who try to speak with differentiation and compassion are excluded.

How can we still show compassion for everyone?
How can we talk about violence against Palestinians - and also about anti-Semitism?
How can we talk about it without being excluded?

How can cultural venues create space for open conversations?
And how free are art and artists when there is so much pressure?

We talk about this together with guests from the worlds of art, literature and politics.
It's about solidarity, controversy and how conversations can still be possible.

Moderation:

Kathrin Ebmeier (Cologne / Bochum) performs on stages, designs spaces and builds stage sets that invite us into fictional times & environments. Ebmeier also arranges installations with various materials, texts and conversations to exhibit the beautiful life for everyone - or ways to get there. As part of the theater crew Anna Kpok (Ruhrgebiet/Berlin) and the queer Oval Office Bar / KosmoPolis e.V. (Bochum), K is often on the road in collectives. Ebmeier is currently working on Sabotage, among other things.

Guests:

Jamila Al-Yousef is a cultural scientist, musician, theater maker and discrimination-sensitive consultant. She combines artistic practice with power-critical educational and advisory work at the interface of art, politics and social transformation. As an internationally touring musician with her band Jamila & The Other Heroes and as a consultant, she works on power-sharing, anti-racism, empowerment and awareness, including currently in the (K)ein Kunststück program of the Anne Frank Bildungsstätte. Her work is critical of power, trauma-sensitive and focuses on the perspectives of those affected.

Esther Dischereit lives in Berlin. She writes prose, poetry and essays and is the author of theater and radio plays. With "Joëmi's Table. Eine jüdische Geschichte" and "Übungen jüdisch zu sein" she became one of the most important literary voices among the descendants of Shoa survivors in Germany. In 2009, she was awarded the Erich Fried Prize. She taught as a professor at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and in 2019 as DAAD Chair in Contemporary Poetics at New York University. With "Blumen für Otello Über die Verbrechen von Jena" Musiktheatr. Werk, she brings charges and accusations in connection with the NSU series of murders against migrants. Most recently, "Ein Haufen Dollarscheine" was published, nominated on the shortlist for the Leipzig Book Fair 2025 Prize. Dischereit works with artists from the fields of music, dance, concept art and film, most recently in the exhibition "Wer war Fritz Kittel - Ein Reichsbahnarbeiter entscheidet sich", together with Veruschka Götz, exhibition design.

Participation limited - ticket purchase recommended!
Date: May 24, 2026, 7:30 pm

Accessibility note: The event room is barrier-free and accessible via a lift. A wheelchair-accessible toilet is available on the ground floor.

Wir müssen reden is a series of talks by the FWT and sees theater as a place of social negotiation - between experts and audience, between contradiction and eating together. Each edition is dedicated to a concept that shapes our present and our thinking about social coexistence. Previous topics have been: Utopia, protest, gender self-determination, renunciation, democracy, human rights, food and supply chains - a series of discussions for progressive thinking and productive debate.