This final SATB main meeting served to consolidate the various threads and themes adressed in the project as well as a further opportunity for the exchange of techniques and skills ranging from medicinal herbal and plant recognition to sound movement/meditation, theater and printmaking workshops, whereby staff learners and clients would work together to create a final exposition to present before a public audience, as well as consolidating the SATB network including peer organisations, clients and public with whom SATB has encountered´over the last 2 years.The weeks activities began at Premarts Galerie, situated near Gorlitzer park which is a meeting point for African refugees, many of whom who are prohibited from legal work and therefore remain in a kind of limbo and which has also sparked some controversey.The group visited the park and invited people to the nearby gallery.

TNH director Caro Ophis Smart spoke about her own personal story of living with and self treatment of breast and lymph cancer over the last 15 years (documented on her blog Cancer Guinea Pig ) and how that has a direct effect on her compassionate grassroots voluntary work. Caro has been a creative and educational force since the late 80s on the London D.I.Y. LGBTQA+ scene(s), is a passionate advocate for the therapeutic use of sound. Caro co-founded the Women’s Autonomous Nuisance café, a London based DIY, vegan, community resource and place of edutainment and conscious raising,organised nomadically in squats and autonomous spaces from 2000 to 2012 and which was featured at the London exhibition "Queer Spaces: London, 1980s –Today" at the Whitechapel gallery. In 2016 she spent some time volunteering for Refugee Community Kitchen (RCK) in Calais and Dunkirk which catalysed an urgency to engage with refugees needs and look for ways by which she and her allies could help. TNH was set up as a formal UK community interest company with the idea to help people „re-find their inner compass through the healing arts“ in order to navigate difficult situations including mental and health diagnoses. John Moulden also gave a summary and presentation about SATB, its activities and achievemnents so far.

CARO OPHIS SMART FROM TRUE NORTH HEALTH

The group travelled 30 km eastwards to Wiesenzirkus Bunterhund in Ruedersdorf and which is a women organised cultural space that seeks to integrate people with special needs and other marginalised groups, including refugees, in a socio cultural, creative context. Many activities are sponsored by Lebenshilfe e.V. and the space includes a discussion area, theater stage and guest wagons. This was the SATB homebase for the next 3 nights and from here, the group where able to visit other local culture projects which combine to make up a regional network. Activities here included an introduction to the project by coordinator Christina followed by a presentation of the new Compagnie Peanuts film followed by discussion and ideas exchange on the theme of using theater as a vehicle to engage with marginalised individuals/groups.The following day the group made a medicinal herb and plant recognition tour with local expert Doreen and Rasheeqa Ahmad (TNH/ Herbalists Without Borders /UK) which was followed by visits to regional socio cultural projects Neuendorf im Sande & Kesselberg.Neuendorf is a small village bought via auktion in 2018 with the support of regional government and the foundations Trias and Edith Maryon. Organisational group Zusane incorporates people with different lifestyles and professions who share a belief in solidarity and social and ecological awareness.The perspective is for the group to expand, be intergenerational as well as to assimilate with the existing village residents.The village was a Jewish learning center for handicrafts before being transformed by the Nazis into a work camp, from where many people,including children and teacher/activisit Clara Grunwald were sent to Auschwitz.In the DDR, the village was farming collective.The group also visited Kesselberg which is an alternative living community near to Erkner on the outskirts of Berlin.The space is organised collectively and includes various handwork atelier spaces as well as having a social-cultural  agenda and being a place for those wishing to live an alterantive off-grid lifestyle as well as  refuge for people with psycho social issues.

ARCHIVE PHOTOS FROM DAS LANDGUT NEUENDORF IM SANDE WHEN IT WAS A JEWISH "HACHSCHARA" LEARNING CENTRE IN THE 1930s

WIESENZIRKUS BUNTERHUND

KESSELBERG

On the Saturday SATB made an organisational meeting at Wiesenzirkus, the group sat together, to reflect on the achievements of the project and also brainstorm about possible future joint activities. The next day the group returned to Berlin to visit Disko Babel culture park which is a new "container village" which is the planned setting for a new Erasmus inspired exchange project and workshop series to create instruments from scrap and found objects. The project will be a partnership between Czentrifuga, local instrument-maker Mohamed Khoudir and the Luxembourg organisation Léieren& Savoir who work together with refugees. Sunday was spent preparing for that evenings public event at Czentrifuga ateliers,comprising of discussion, short films, performances, live printing, theater (Wiesenzirkus Bunterhund and Unter Druck) and live music.This was also a fundraising event for RCK and it ran into the early hours of the next day with only a few hours sleep before meeting together to say farewells and chat informally about future project ideas.

DISKO BABEL

LINK TO MEETING PHOTOS

Many Thanks to Sarah Cowell for video and translation of the

excerpts from the Unter Druck Theater  performance at Czentrifuga Ateliers

STEP ACROSS THE BORDER 2018

liebe UnterDrucker*innen ... es ist soweit:

Am Donnerstag 22:08 11_15:00 Uhr gibt´s mal ...

Aber: Dafür gibt´s ...

saitan-würstchen, tofu-rührei-süsskartoffel-spalten, ofengemüse-leberwurst-tiramisu

und verscheidenes mehr

lasst euch überraschen!!

to read Minnies report scroll down the page for the pdf attachment

Minnie Griffith was born in England but grew up in the south of France, where she passed her baccalaureate in 2015 followed by two years of studies including fine arts & languages. Minnie is now living in Berlin, having recently finished working at the Premarts Galerie, as part of a European Volunteer Scheme in co-op with the Czentrifuga/Unter Druck, Erasmus Plus project "Step Across the Border" In 2018, together with fellow Francophiles, Pauline and her brother Max, the three new Berliners have instigated the Kollage Kollektive 

 

Kollage Kollectiv is an art collective and platform focused on bringing creative people together to express social and political messages throughout art. Spreading positive images and ideas around Berlin to clash with the commercial advertising polluting our cities and promoting values we don’t believe in. The collective was born after the need to express ourselves in a city and society that don’t fulfill our creative and social aspirations . The collective organises social and artistic events to give people the opportunity to get involved and inspired in communal projects.

 

As a fluent bilingual speaker, Minnies help in translating texts, discussions and conversations has been invaluable in the context of communications within our SATB partnership. In 2018, Minnie visited Marseille as part of the partnership activities hosted by the culture center l'Embobineuse, participating in the activities as well making photo documentation.

 

Back in Berlin, Minnie has also been volunteering regularly at both Czentrifuga and Unter Druck activities and events, Here are a few links to Minnies SATB inspired photography:

 

SATB workshop and performance with La Felure (Marseille /lEmbobineuse) at Unter Druck Cafe , Berlin 2018

 

SATB meeting and activity programme, Marseille 2018
 

SATB creative workshop together with "refugees" at ZUsammenKUNFT/Berlin

 

SATB creative workshop together with "handicapped" people at Mensch Meier club

 

 

EVS Students: Minnie Griffith & Renate Rey (Rijn IJssel Design School/Arnhem) @ Czentrifuga Ateliers 2018

 

Under the motto "Each One Teach One" Minnie is in the process of transition from learner to teacher, whereby she has become a regular member and volunteer of the Czentrifuga group, learning the art of screenprinting which she is now teaching to others, as well as helping with translation and office work and generally  taking responsibility and coordinating activities at for the atelier spaces. SATB is now pleased to be able to offer Minnie further teacher/learner experiences in Marseille, whereby she will be participating in the Compagnie Peanuts  theater group activities as well as helping on French to English translation of the La Cabane Mental  film which the SATB group participated in last year. We hope that these activities will enrich Minnies perspective, helping her to further understand and sensitise  her to the issues faced by vulnerable migrant communities. We also look forward to seeing photos and reading Minnies report on her Marseille experience..Bon voyage!

 

 

 

 

 

as s.a.t.b. enters its second year, coost and stine review the story so far and reveal what is yet to come!

after there will be an auction of donated artworks as part of the effort to help the berlin homeless

AUCTION LINK

La cabane - teaser from lembobineuse on Vimeo.

Avec Libertia, le 102ème département et Philippe Zunino
Réalisation : Mohamed Ali
Image : Jérôme Fino
Son : Philippe Zunino
Montage : Mohamed Ali & Jérôme Fino
Production : L'embobineuse & la Compagnie Peanuts

Introduction

True North Health invited the Erasmus Plus / Step Across the Border project partners, and also the general public, to participate in this Queer Punk Health Creation Week which constituted a series of internal workshops and talks, including 2 private and 2 public events over a 5 day period.

Director for True North Health Caro Smart writes: "As a young one I only saw punk as angry white men, rightly or wrongly,the diversities and nuances absent from my understanding. Recently I saw an inspiring film called Queercore and was  re educated about the diversity and the inclusivity of punk activism as outsider queer subcultures.It nourished and grounded me in my lived history of resistance.

The strength of punk, the spirit of DIY (just get up and do it even if it is crap) plus the anger at an unfair system, underpinned the energy and spirit, and was a main driver for the part of the London Underground free party rave scene that I was a part of in the 90s. That anger transmuted into sound system cultures and a Do It Together ethos, dancing love peace and unity. Together. And I always felt more at home there than on the "gay and lesbian" scene (as it was called then).
It is my background with this that informs my lived attitude to health creation and also the creation of True North Health, a not for profit grass roots organisation of which I am a voluntary director. Obviously True North refers to finding your own guiding star to navigate through challenges in life but also to represent a different face of the north, than the  white voracious patriarchal system that colonises us and is imprinted on us  and our understandings.

True North Health is about health creation that joins up the dots, that is, to use the buzzword of the now, intersectional. It is about wellbeing for all, not wellbeing for some, at the expense of others. It is about looking at systemic diseases like cancer, and the body and its relation to the world for example in a different way. By that I mean an invitation to embrace the concept of radical compassion. To be able to hold with compassion the body when it fails, when our cells and systems don't work as they should, and make positive restorative action from that place. Like wise for our social and collective bodies. Radical compassion is a way of collapsing the binary of  "them and us".

It is in the spirit of all this that we present the 5 day programme Queer Punk Health Creation, as part of the Erasmus Plus horizontal learning exchange called Step Across The Border with our allies and fellow partners from Berlin and Marseilles, sharing sound, music and the coming together to share a moment in our lives to radically  learn, teach, create support and cohesion and empathy. "

Inspired by the Scapegoat theme of our Marseiiles SATB project partners l'Embobineuse / Compagnie Peanuts, this activity schedule aimed to look at the body and how and where in our bodies we scapegoat ourselves. This is particularly relevant for activists in the constant battle against "burn out" as well as people existing on the margins of society.

Each morning was marked by a daily movement and meditation check-in, also involving small discussions about how to create health and well-being and also recording sound before and after the sessions. The purpose of these sessions were  to see how the voice transmits our state of well being – an important indicator both for ourselves, as well as in the work of our respective organisations and especially relevant for picking up hidden cues from people we might be working with.

As a small and itinerant loose organisation of women and trans people who are low on economic resources, True North Health  come together to create projects and events without a fixed operations base, using outside and inside spaces including New River Studios, Lordship Hub Community Centre and the Curve Garden Dalston who are all not for profit community projects.

SATB Meeting & Activities Programme

Tuesday 9th October  Thanks to meticulously prepared directions by True North Health (TNH) coordinator Caro, the SATB participants from Marseille, Berlin and Arnhem, managed to easily navigate the sprawling metropolis, meeting together on schedule at Caros house in the Seven Sisters area of Tottenham in North London.

Participating in the weeks activities: Magdi Reichi, Elsa Gobert and Ana Servo (lEmbobineuse/Marseille ) John Moulden a.k.a. "Coost", Stine Brinklov and Renate Koening (Unter Druck/Czentrifuga/GER) and Caro Smart, Rasheeqa Ahmad and Marwa Barakat (True North Health/ UK)

Firstly, a  touch base meeting; whereby the group were given itinery lists and brought up to speed with latest developments concerning the planned activity programme.

We were fortunate to have warm sunny Autumnal weather which was perfect for the afternoons outdoor medicinal herb identification walk with TNH member Rasheeqa Ahmad who also works for the Herbs Without Border http://herbalistswithoutborders.co.uk/ network . These herb walks have become a recurring and important theme throughout the SATB transnational meetings and Rasheeqas invaluable knowledge on the subject has been both informative and inspiring. By now the sun was setting, which meant we were sadly unable to visit the Olympic Park for a Capoeira session at the invitation of Paulinha Martens and Zoe Marriage. Just to mention that this is a cultural musical/dance tradition from the African diaspora, played equally by people regardless of gender that has traversed time and geographical borders as a way of creative expression and remembrance of cultural roots. These regular free for all sessions feature live musical accompaniment.

Wednesday 10th October On this beautifull sunny day, the group walked over to nearby Downhills Park, to begin the first of our daily movement meditation sessions led by Caro from True North Health.The workshop focused on voice exercises which help tap into the body and are mostly a mixture of Chinese and Daoist medicinal practices.Caro made voice recordings, the purpose of which, to sonically monitor how the participants, and the group as a whole, progress throughout the week.Magdi, actor and director from theater company Peanuts in Marseille, remarked on the similarities with actor training and „grounding“ techniques.

Wednesday afternoon the SATB group split according to their wishes with the choice to visit Groundswell in Brixton, which is a peer to peer project for the homeless, and also St Ethelbergers Peace and Reconciliation Centre which prioritizes building community resilience through nurturing diversity and building relationships across division and difference, working to find ways of acceptance and co-operation between different faith based communities and dissolving prejudices and whereby LGBTQI+ people of faith integrate and are empowered.

Ana & Elsa (l'Embobineuse) , Coost & Renate (Czentrifuga) 2018 Step Across the Border on 199Radio, London

That evening we visited New River Studios, the location for the following days SATB public event, in order to look at the space as part of the preparation work and later we made a live radio show there on 199Radio, We  bunched together into the tiny room to talk about our project and the respective work of the partner organisations, as well as promote the upcoming SATB events. Caro gave  a great talk about her work, her philosophy and the SATB activities, together with Elsa, project coordinator for lEmbobineuse who also  talked about their in-house migrant theater group Compagnie Peanuts, as well as the actual case of the refugee support ship Aquarius, which, a few days before, had  been stripped of its flag and was lying paralysed in the Marseille harbour. Also recently, there had been been a huge demonstration in Marseille which was aimed at drawing attention to the current illegalisation of helping refugees and demanding that the Aquarius be given a French flag and allowed to continue helping refugees at risk in the Mediterranean. (LINK TO OUR RADIOSHOW)

Thanks to producers Freddy and Lee for their support! True North Health are now in discussions to continue and make regular radio shows there.

Thursday 11th October 10:30 - Midday: Continuing our daily collective sound workshop, this time at the Lordship Recreation Ground at the the Hub Community Centre, which is part of a 4 million pounds redevelopment project  which started in 2009 through funding by Big Lottery, the Marathon Trust and Heritage Lottery Fund.

This South Eastern corner of the park is adjacent to Broadwater Farm, housing estates which, on 6 October 1985, was the flash point for urban riots between black youths and largely white police, sparked after the death of Cynthia Jarrett, an African-Caribbean woman who died the previous day due to heart failure during a police search at her home. At the time, Broadwater Farm was a national symbol of urban neglect and, unlike the adjacent park, the cheap and inadequate buildings were never improved upon. Today, plans are underway to destroy them to make way for new buildings for wealthy people which will effectively push out the local community.

The Hub is an ecologically designed construction and community space and it was here that we carried out the second sound and meditation workshop focused on sound bathing, whereby participants took turns to lie in the center of the room surrounded by the group who, using their voices, intone the name of the subject for 3 minutes. After the 9 participants had completed the exercise, they shared their experience with the group. This technique is aimed more for people working as teachers and practitioners in psycho/social health care and is not necessarily recommended for people with severe trauma, as it can trigger painfull memories and have contra productive effects. Indeed, not all members of the group found the experience (of lying on the floor in the middle of the group ) pleasant, but for the most it was a remarkable meditative sonic experience.

Caro (True North Health) Magdi (lEmbobineuse) & Rasheeqa (True North Health)

Next, the group visited Mel from Herbalists without Borders, who lives on a canal barge „Stormvogel“ which is part of a boat community based at Stonebridge South Moorings at Tottenham Hale. Here, we were priveliged to take part in a 3 hour medicine making workshop, which is part of the effort, along with Refugee Community Kitchen, to help refugees stranded in the Calais area. The group helped prepare a cough medicine using cinnamon, marshmallow root and vegetable glycerine.

Mel, who makes regular trips to Calais, explained how she worked alongside volunteer doctors who were there treating serious conditions such as TB and she outlined the most common illnesses and afflictions affecting the refugees there. Most of Mels herbal and plant remedies were for coughs, colds and skin conditions but the most common issue was treating people suffering from police beatings and gas attacks which, of course, is also a traumatic and bewildering experience for the carers themselves.

Another health issue amongst refugees in the Calais region was, gaining trust of women in order to help them with intimate health problems such as cystitus. A further problem was how to effectively label medicine bottles amongst a diaspora who speak many different languages and many of whom cannot read or write. The medicine we prepared was to be sent to Calais that same week and, at the end of the workshop, Mel asked the group about our thoughts and how we could imagine using this knowledge in the sense of our own organisational community outreach. Ana from lEmbobineuse, who  is also a festival and activity organiser, was interested to share and promote this knowledge amongst her network. Coost from Czentrifuga was interested to look at solutions for medicine bottle label designs by issue using pictograms. Thanks also to Mels partner Russel for his valuable assistance and sharing his own insights into herbal medicine.

"Activisms of Connection" This public event was held at New River Studios and the focus was on collective and individual well-being, celebrating the psychosocial impact of connection through music, herbal medicine, discussion and film. The event included guest speakers, live music, Djs and vegan pizza. The aim of the event was to promote the SATB project, encourage networking, and also help build solidarity and promote the benefits of social psycho immune boosting health.

Magdi, theater director from SATB partner Compagnie Peanuts (lEmbobineuse, Marseille) together with his Marseille colleagues Ana and Elsa, presented their new film made by Jerome Fi.no which explores the phenomena of scapegoating as portrayed with first hand knowledge by the companies' mostly African (Comorean islands) migrant cast and production team.

Also represented, the landmark project Rainbow Pilgrims https://www.rainbowpilgrims.com which examines the hidden history of LGBTQ+ migrants to the UK, documenting the interconnection between faith, sexuality, gender and ethnicity through oral history, film and photography. Project founder, Jewish male transactivist Shaan Surat Knan, presented the work of his organisation and participated in the panel discussion together with special guests Monica https://rainbowpilgrims.atavist.com/community#chapter-3414091 and Rakel https://rainbowpilgrims.atavist.com/faith#chapter-3388109 who were both collaborators and contributors to the Rainbow Pligrims project, and who presented testimonies to the descrimination and hardships they have undergone as LGBTQ women, both in Africa, and also through UK Home Office interrogations. (click on the links to read their stories).

Also joining the discussion were Rasheeqa Ahmad (True North Health / Herbalists Without Borders) http://herbalistswithoutborders.co.uk/ and Victor Paes from the Westminster Herbalists Without Borders Student Society https://www.uwsu.com/society/8918/ HWB is a fast growing network of practitioners growers and students who are actively engaged in the effort to give medicinal aid and support refugees and migrants.

Nina Alonso from Yellow Days Organisation talked about their grassroots work helping to integrate refugees within local communities in Greece info@yellowprojects.org

Steve Bedlam, one of the founders of Refugee Community Kitchen https://www.refugeecommunitykitchen.com/ talked about his organisations work, not only in the Calais and Dunkirk area, but also about new initiatives to help in Bosnia and also in London, where the RCK organisation are helping to feed the cities homeless. Meanwhile, the Calais operation has served over a million nutritious meals and is still cooking and distributing 2000 meals daily.

Steve pointed out that although „The Jungle“ refugee camp has been evicted, the problem has not gone away and, in fact, is on the increase with refugees now coming from more countries than ever before. Steve also maintained that it was the grassroots organisations and networks in Europe that were effectively „holding down“ emergency relief for refugees and used the example of a recent trip to Bosnia whereby the large NGOs working there were offering people a single bowl of rice in comparison to RCKs principle of serving quality food , with diverse menus that reflect on the culinary cultural differences of the refugees. The point here was that people were offered the „dignity of choice“ after having suffered so much. Also, these meals were being produced at a quarter of the cost of the aforementioned NGOs plain rice. Steve went on to say that RCK had the logistical capacity to feed up to 10,00 people daily, indicating his organisations readiness and resolve to deal with the refugees and migrant phenomena and „feed people without judgement“.

The evening continued with live music on the highest level by an incredible solo djembe drum & voice performance from Khadijatou Doyneh who is a Guyanese raised and London based singer-songwriter, author, spoken word poet, musician, and dancer. https://soundcloud.com/juju-rock/bawling

Continuing with the high level music programme, we were honoured to have Dj Ritu  http://www.djritu.com This pioneering global grooves guru, turntablist & BBC broadcaster has been active on the British and international club scene for 31 years. „The ultimate musical chameleon“ who also co-founded the internationally acclaimed Outcaste Records. Last but not least the Samba Sisters Collective a multi-cultural group comprised of  women of all ages and backgrounds who come together to give sonic support at demonstrations and fund raising events.

There were approximately 150 people in attendance and it was encouraging to see the panelists, musicians and guests, many of whom were unknown to each other, exchanging contacts and pledging mutual support. The event was live streamed thanks to TNH member and Cambridge University researcher Lucy van de Viel and proceeds from the event went to support Refugee Community Kitchen and African Rainbow Family.

Event Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/2199464943662849/

Friday 12th October After the daily voice workshop, participants moved to the Islington area where they were invited to sit in on the "Diversity Building Solidarity Symposium" This was an important LGBTQ+ awareness event that highlighted the many sides of London’s diverse LGBTQ+ community and, for the SATB group, it was an important resource for our undertstanding of current issues as well as an opportunity to look for shared goals, solidarity building and to be a part of raising the voices of the most excluded within the rainbow community.

The event was co-produced by Intersex UK, Rainbow Pilgrims, Regard DDPO, Twilight People and other user-led projects. Event Link https://hearequality.org.uk

The HEAR Equality and Human Rights Network „connects and supports equalities specialists across all equality characteristics and across London to get their voices heard and to influence policy and the environment within which people work for human rights“ The event was open to charities, campaigners, policy makers, funders and service providers and we were very honoured to be invited, thanks to Shaan for that!

Other organisations and contributors in attendance were, Surat-Shaan Knan (Jewish Liberal Movement), Ash Kotak (#AIDSMemoryUK), Regard (LGBTQ+ who self identify as Disabled), Gendered Intelligence ( Transgender Awareness), Bi Pride UK (support group for Bi-Sexual,and any others who experience attraction beyond gender), Intersex UK (organisation by and for Intersex people) and also UK Black Pride (LGBTQ+ People of Colour) This was an information packed symposium and transcripts from the speakers can be found at the HEAR website.

Here are a selected few points from amongst many interesting informations we gathered this day.

Ash Kotak Ash Kotak curator, playwright, filmaker and executive producer of films, The Joneses and Punched by a Homosexualist, gave an upbeat talk on his various roles as social cultural activist, including #AIDSMemoryUK; #Aesthesiaarts collective; #YouthAfterGrenfell (referring to the tragic fire at Grenfell tower in West London last year) as well as outreach work with Palestinian artists via@ArtsPalestine. Talking about AIDS, Ash dispelled the commonly held myth that the disease was on the decline and that AIDS is not over, it kills women and POC,  and 50% of 35 million people living with HIV worldwide cannot access life saving medications. Under the motto "fighting for unity and commonality“ Ash called on the attendees for solidarity with the  U.K. wide #EndAIDS2030Festival (26th November to 3rd December)  marking the 30th  year of World AIDS Day which includes events at the Royal Society of Arts, the BFI, Brixton Jamm, and at Club Kali with DJ Ritu as well as a  simultaneous AIDS vigil around the U.K. to remember, to celebrate and to raise the concern that we must fight on. Access to HIV medication is very much about privilege; people on HIV meds cannot pass on HIV and we could stop AIDS now.

Also incredibly active and „wearing many hats“ was speaker Surat-Shaan Knan who (also) works for the Liberal Jewish Movement. Shaan outlined the work of the Rainbow Pilgrims project which he had already presented at the previous nights SATB event ,which is  included as a PDF file at the bottom of this article. Shaan is also a member of the Stonewall Trans Advisory Group and mentioned the invaluable support from the Heritage Lottery Fund. There was also a spokesperson from the fund present at the event offering advice and consultation.

REGARD is a national organisation for LGBTQ+ people who self identify as being disabled and was represented by Dr Ju Gosling who gave a remarkable and enlightening speech which covered issues such as the double exclusion of LGBTQ+ disabled people amongst both LGBTQ+ and the rest of society, not disimiliar to to the plight of LGBTQ+ refugees in fact.

There was a lot of insightfull information to absorb with contentious issues such as „genetic descrimination“, whereby unborn babies diagnosed with (e.g.) Down Syndrome are sometimes aborted, although we know that DS people can be perfectly capable of living autonomously. The point raised was that medical professionals are often advising on abortion rather than offering neutral information to parents.

Ju also talked about hate crime (the following week was National Hate Crime Awareness Week) and also „befrienders“ - unscrupulous people who take advantage of disabled people, going in their homes and taking over their resources. Like most of the spokespeople and organisations we came into contact with in London, REGARD is a grassroots organisation, which often means, that the work is done by people who themselves belong to or identify with the client group. In this sense Ju pointed out the difference between „organisations for“ and „organisations with“ and that larger, state subsidised, „organisations for“,  have vested interests in supporting the status quo in order to maintain funding. Another point raised was how society is conditioned to view family life and sex between disabled people in a negative light. Amongst other services REGARD offer „inclusion confidence training“ , altogether a highly compelling speech and a lot of food for thought.

Perhaps the most burning issue that was raised and picked upon by several of the speakers was the „Gender Recognition Act“ (https://www.stonewall.org.uk/gender-recognition-act) which is a very contentious and often divisive issue amongst LGBTQ+ communities. In this final week of this Governmental  preliminary survey, there were united calls to ask LGBTQ+ and their allies to fill in the online questionares, which are part of the process in order to amend and make new legislation.

Abigail Kay talked about Bi Pride UK , outling the misconceptions and misnomers associated with the term of Bi sexuality and referred to a remarkable survey by the Stonewall organisation that states that 49% of 18-24 year olds identify as being neither straight or gay. Abigail also referred to a film to watch out for on the subject of being non binary “Move Away“.

The phenomena of  people undergoing traumatic experiences by having to prove that they are transgender, can have an adverse effect of people being reluctant to come out. Another contentious point was raised about how surgical genital modifications are carried out so that people „fit in“ with projected norms  of society. Also, differences were underlined concerning terminology such as bi-romantic in contrast to bi-sexual. There are circa 20 bi supportative groups in the UK.

UK Black Pride is Europes largest celebration of African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin American, and Caribbean heritage. It aims to foster, present, and celebrate Black LGBT culture through education, the arts, cultural events and advocacy. Representing was Josh Rivers who is also a spokesperson for TUC (UK trade union movement) who raised several interesting points, which often  intersected with statements by speakers from other organisations. Here are a few points of interest from that presentation.

- "Rainbow Racism" - citing  an example of how some gay men clubs refused entry to brown skinned people in the wake of London terrorist attacks.

-  Dealing with micro aggressions and conflicts arising due to clashes of identity politics within the LGBTQ+ community.

- The phenomena of LGBTQ+ people being over objectified and oversexualised within society at large.

- A call out for equality , solidarity and unity!

Intersex UK This organisation is by and for intersex people (those born with difference of sex development or variations of sex anatomy: (Biologically diverse and non binary), working to protect the bodily autonomy and civil rights of intersex children and adolescents, and their families through government lobbying and educational outreach. The IUK mission is to end unnecessary surgeries and the normalisation of hormonal regimes on intersex infants and adolescents, promoting bodily autonomy and recognition/validation regarding  Variation of Sex Characteristics (V.S.C) as well as lobbying for increased public education and access to to identifiication documents with preferred gender markers.

Co-founder Holly Greenberry who also adresssed the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2014 on the subject of intersexuality, spoke to us via Skype about human rights abuses and civil inequality facing healthy intersex children and young adults, citing the example of their lack of rights to civil partnerships and marriage due to not being able to change gender classification on birth certificates. Some other interesting infos and points:

- Gender defintions are not just about genitals but also „hormone receptor responses“

- Another reference to the ongoing government work on the „ Gender Recognition Act“ which is causing infighting within LGBTQ+ communities, pitting fights between e.g. trans and feminist women, whereby transgender women are sometimes not accepted for their gender and often, fear based, assumptions that transwomen will usurp womens spaces and funding streams.

- Doctors and medical staff are often uninformed on this subject and hormonal regimes and gential surgery is often performed on people before they are of an age to make informed, self-choice and „the right to self declare“. These people are pathologised and can be subjected to traumatic horrific processes. Decisions are taken: this person is female and therefore, biologically needs the capacity to be penetrated, therefore surgery is carried out on the clitoris/vagina and , conversely: this person is male and requires the capacity to be able to penetrate and so operation is made on the penis.

- Intersex argues that gender assignation comes in later years and is something that does not overly concern a 6 year old. Existential decisions are therefore imposed by elders, doctors, society etc.

The seminar  demonstrated perfectly the meaning of intersectionality and the SATB group stayed late in order to chat and join workshops together with the smaller remaining group. Many thanks to all the speakers and organisers!

Saturday 13th October We visited the Curve Garden in the Dalston area and were given a small tour by TNH representative Rasheeqa. The garden is a grassroots initiative which provides a green oasis for local people to relax in this particularly dense and busy area. There are many socio cultural initiatives coming together here, including a pizza- making initiative involved in local outreach work.

Saturday 13th October 14:00 - 17:00 public event: "Transformative Sounds for Health and Well Being" Shacklewell Lane Mosque

This remarkable building was formerly a synagogue and The SATB  participants were honoured to see at first-hand how the guardians of this space (Egg and Mel) navigate cross cultural dialogues in order to create a radical community asset.

Transformative Sounds for Health and Well Being  This TNH / SATB organised event was a LGBTQ+ and POC led, 3 hour immersion of transformative sound, a psycho social exercise in aspects of health creation which foster connection, spirituality, empowerment and transformation using sound as a tool. The co creators of the space were: Caro Ophis (TNH/ Interval Oracle) - toning and voice work to help centre and connect; interactive music and art for empowerment from Angelus Squid Marr as well as the Qraft Bistro collective  and also gong bathing for immune boosting relaxation by Tafrina Dubois. This was a pay event with discounts for unwaged and free places for people from migrant and refugee communities. https://www.facebook.com/events/2140694809515655/

The event ran longer than expected and, sadly the SATB group were unable to attend that evenings  "Woven Gold Choir " event at Café Karamel which is a grassroots socio cultural, vegan venue in the Wood Green area. This event was the musical highlight of the Spotlight on Asylum Festival season . The choir is made up of refugees and asylum seekers from many of our world’s most desperate and divided countries. Its members have fled from treacherous and threatening circumstances in Iran, Algeria, Myanamar, Chechnya, Pakistan, Congo and Uganda all with the common desire to find sanctuary. Over the past ten years, they have formed a family through their love of music and their yearning for peace, safety and solidarity. https://www.facebook.com/events/253770835349958/?active_tab=about

Many thanks to Caro and her team for organising  such a dynamic and  productive 5 days in London. This was a week whereby we were priveliged to be able to learn some sublime and  specialist techniques aimed at re-charging, detoxing and calming, overactive and overfilled minds. The practices we learned go a long way in helping volunteers engaged in psycho social care with traumatised people, to reclaim their own equilibrium and are an effective antidote for one of the most common issues amongst care workers: burn out. Parallel to these exercises, we were fortunate to be able to dive deep into the diverse universe of Londons pro active  LGBTQ+ community, as well as others involved with support work for refugees, migrants, the homeless and others who are socially marginalised. Only a city with the multicultural dimension of London can claim such an intense concentration of highly skilled and dedicated volunteers and True North Healths efforts to help bring together these intersecting forces is exemplary and very necessary in these troubling and divisive times.

For the  next meeting we return to Berlin whereby we hope to bring many of the topics and threads together in oder to  present a cohesive overview of project results.

Unter Druck 
&
Czentrifuga 

Siebdruck Workshop

15 -18Uhr

Pimp eure klamotten!

@"Haus der Lebenshilfe"
Dohnagestell 10

13351
Berlin

(Originalartikel in Deutsch HIER)    

As part of ongoing Unter Druck / Czentrifugas  Step Across the Border  project  activities , we teamed up with Rijn Ijssel school from  Arnhem,  who adopted  and adapted the SATB idea in order to sensitise their students to the issues of homelessnes and social exclusion, encouraging the students to put their creative skills  to a positive socio cultural use. Heres a rough translation from an article wriiten on the local town hall  news site.

Heres also a  fotolink  showing the workshop results.

How do people feel  having  to build a shelter for a homeless person from scrap and found things?

This issue was  addressed  by 50 visiting Erasmus students from the  Rijn Ijssel school in Arnhem, Netherlands in Lichtenberg. For two days, the 18-to 22-year-olds constructed 8 temporary shelters at B.L.O. Ateliers in Kaskelkiez, Lichtenberg  which was visited  from the district Mayor Michael Gruner.

In fact, this  international exchange should have take place in Kreuzberg, but the  new creative hub and hackspace  "Beton Insel"  featuring  an automated  robot band made from scrap metal and pneumatics, amongst many other D.I Y. projects,   was unexpectedly terminated by the  private landlord . "I am delighted that the Lichtenberger studios have simply stepped in to enable the project," said the district mayor.

Yt from Czentrifuga  explains: "It is important for us to show that you can make something usefull out of rubbish too". Stine from Czentrifuga added "In fact none of this should  be happening at all if the issue of homelessness was treated more seriously and socially excluded people were given a fairer deal" 

The Czentrifuga workspaces at  Ostkreuz on the Lichtenberg / Friedrichshain border,  is an initiative set up by  Unter Druck Kultur von der Strasse e.V. which is a small independent association for helping  homeless and socially marginalised people. The association also runs a  second location Unter Druck  in the Berlin Wedding district , which is a meeting place offering  free food and drink as well as legal advice and creative activities.

Czentrifuga offers workshops in  screen printing, upcyling plastic trash for costimes and deco, a music studio and also  2D and  clay animation, under the motto "Jekami": (everyone can participate). For the Erasmus Workshop, Czentrifuga organised  old signs, wooden beams, carpet residues and other material for the construction of shelters. In addition,Verena, a former homeless person working as volunteer at the Unter Druck  cafe, as well as Syrian refugee Wael,  talked to the young Dutch students about their hard life experiences . "They told us their sad story and we realized that everyone could meet," said the 18-year-old Britney.

Berlin Lichtenberg District Mayor  Michel Grunst & SATB Project Coordinator John Moulden a.k.a. "Coost"

"Most of our students in the fields of art, design, interior design, and room design come from very sheltered conditions. For them it is hardly imaginable that people have to live on the street, "says Ineke Sadée. She is a lecturer for internationals in the creative Industry Department of Rijnijssel University. "Through projects like these, our students learn what it means to engage in civil society," says Sadée.

............................................................................................................

LINK TO FOTO ARCHIVES

For this transnational Step Across the Border meeting and skill sharing exchange, the setting was in the Belle de Mai  area of Marseille centered around the culture center lEmbobineuse. The visiting project participants: Caro Smart, Rasheeqa Ahmad, Raggi Kotek and Lucy Van de Wiel  from the organisation True North Health in London and Yt Winterthaler, Stine Brinklov, Tanja Ehmann , Renate Rey, Angelika Wenzel, Minnie Griffith, John Moulden a.k.a."Coost" and Beat Gipp , representing the Berlin associaton  Unter Druck - Kultur von der Strasse e.V.

Elsa Gobert, project coordinator at lEmbobineuse, organised  a comprehensive and dynamic  programme of educative and creative activiities and exchanges,which included discussions, demonstrations, workshops, communal cooking, radio cinema, live music and theater . The daily activities were mainly at locations in the local area, which is a  traditionally poorer part of the city, with a majority of African French citizens and migrants. A large social issue here, is  the  push of gentrification  at the expense and exclusion of the existing vibrant and diverse culture and community. As we found out, there are many  innovative  socio cultural initiatives in Marseille and, thanks to our wonderfull hosts, we were very priveliged and gratefull  to have the chance to look, listen and learn by submerging  into this unique community allbeit for five  short days......

20.05 2018

Arrival, checking in, meeting, eating and greeting at lEmbobineuse with an early evening  visit to  Radio Galère  in the culture complex Frische de la Belle Mai, for a live broadcast on  Dataplex radio   hosted by long standing  Marseille cultural operator Damien Morel, whereby  we  talked on air about the Marseille SATB mission and the various planned activities.

meeting and greeting at lembobineuse ----------- yt from czentrifuga checks the artwork at le dernier cri ------------- propaganda --------------  stine and yt at the compagnie peanuts film premiere              

locker system  at la baggagerie ------  Jardin du Couvent Levas -------- life on mars

21.05 2018

Morning visit to Le Derner Cri cult, art print factory at  Frische de la Belle Mai  with  introduction by Dernier Cri master printer,  local  social-cultural  activist and lEmbobineuse sponsor, Pakito Bolino. At midday we met and ate together  with representatives from Compagnie Peanuts at lEmbobineuse. This theater company of circa 30 people are residents from the neighbourhood, now in their third year of  working and co-producing together with Magdi Rejichi,  Philippe Zunino, Jérôme Fino and Mohammed Ali. The majority of the ensemble have migrated to Marseille from the Comoros islands on the east African coast , north of Madagascar. The age range is from 25  to 70 and approximately  two thirds are women. As an ex French colony , Comoreans are allowed to come to France, however, there are imposed  limitations to this, which means its important for the organisers to try and help company members integrate into society and find work in order to improve their chances of remaining . In this sense, the theater group  is a means by which its possible to help people with fundamental migration issues as well as the more obvious social and creative benefits.

Representing Compagnie Peanuts

La Cabane Métamentale

That  same afternoon the SATB group took part in the Company Peanuts workshop, which centered around La Cabane Métamentale "a heterotopic space where time is suspended". Within this enlosed, dark space and, through the use of psycho social and emancipatory interviews, single participants are invited into this safe yet mysterious isolation chamber, allowing them to connect with their subconsciousness which can help participants to release intimate, often hidden, words and sounds that "need to come out". The purpose is to tap into the positivity within people by being welcoming and respondent.

For the puposes of the SATB workshop, the cabin was installed on the lEmbobineuse stage. People in the room were invited to sit or lie  around the cabin and listen in on headphones to the conversations within. Meanwhile, there were 4 other stations, spread around the venue, and  participants  were escorted from one station to the next  by theater members dressed as medical staff.  These "doctors and nurses"  dressed in surgical gowns and masks, talk in Comorian, Arabic, French, English (often all mixed together). The "Patients" (participants) are first received  at the bar  area, where they are  are given their "Meta Mental" documents, before being escorted from one station/scenario to the next. Each  scenario  has a different twist on classical  doctor - patient interview situations: lying down, sitting, or being observed remotely through a glass window (in this case, the actors improvise using  the venues  cloakroom window) . Participants are asked  how they feel? , what do they like? or are simply lulled into a relaxed state through via  the use of abstract  words and sounds. 

One scenario requires that the  participant squeeze between two actresses into the backseat of a very small car  (theres an actual car in the venue); whereupon these two "doctors" whisper and sing trance-like  into the participants ears. These actions are designed to  gently encourage the  participants to relax and step out of their normal mind set, to  open their  minds and prepare them for the final ultimate cabin experience. The hut  experiment is also part of an ongoing project, which is to record excerpts from the exchanges within  and also in the immediate area around the hut. The recordings are supervised and edited by invited S.A.T.B. guest Philippe Zumino. In this video teaser  "La Cabane", we see how the Company are very much pro active in promoting themselves within the neighbourhood . We also  see how La Cabane Métamentale is  constructed,  as well as showing Philippe Zumino making interviews inside  the Cabin.

La cabane - teaser from lembobineuse on Vimeo.

Cartographie Meta Mentale (examples from SATB participants  Minnie and Rasheeqa)

Compagnie Peanuts / S.A.T.B. -  La Cabane Métamentale Radio Spot here

Following on from the successfull medicinal plant and flower identification workshop at the first S.A.T.B. meeting at the Bienenwerder farm on the outskirts of Berlin, we visited  Jardin du Couvent Levas, together with herb and plant expert and  True North Health representative, Rasheeqa Ahmad. This ex-convent for nuns in the Belle de Mai are, is now a space for artists in residence surrounded by a community gardening project. Here we were given a tour of the flora and fauna of the garden by Alice who also volunteers at Cantine du Midi  which we  were to  visit the next day. This was a good opportunity for our London and local experts to trade  infos and anecdotes and a great opportunity for the team and guests to learn and reflect more on urban gardening and plant and herb identification.

This full packed day was not yet over, with perhaps the most interesting and intense  experience of the Marseille visit lying before us. Members of the visiting S.A.T.B. organisations  were distributed and hosted amongst the respective homes of Zalahata, Khadja, Kader, Aziza, Mr Mfya and Afakra from Company Peanuts. This was a sublime continuation of the workshop at lEmbobineuse, whereby we were given a rare and priveliged opportunity to share the homes , eat, sleep and make exchange with some  incredibly generous and warm hearted people, most of whom are  from Islamic cultural backgrounds.

22.04

Early the next morning, we assembled at Cantine du Midi on rue Bernard in the Belle de Mai area and began preparing food , some of which (herbs, stinging nettles and  other edible plants and flowers) we had collected from the previous days visit to le Couvant. The Cantine is organised by the En Chantier association  whose aim is to create local solidarity and collective responsibility  based on empowerment values "we pay attention to involving people  using food to reach this goal" As well as the daily low priced, healthy food cantine, the  organisation runs a food shop next door, as well as a mobile kitchen which is used to educate and sensitise children, teenagers and families about healthy food.

That evening the group visited "La Bagagerie" which is an initiative working together with homeless people in the centre of Marseille and, here  we  were given a tour of the space by volunteer Marie. Utilising an empty storefront   property, the space has been fitted out with around 40  lockers, whereby homeless people can leave there belongings and valuables,  which allows them the freedom to walk freely in the city without the fear of losing their possessions as well allowing them anonimity of being unrecognisable as being homeless. This is a model project which deals simply and concretely with an existential homeless issue, which  other countries could  learn from. Many  thanks to the coordintion help from Sonja who was involved in the La Bagagerie set-up and who works for the Emmäus Homeless peoples organisation.

23.04

The SATB team met at lEmbobineuse, whereby  Blandine and Cecile from the La Felure Theater Company, who had made a memorable peformance workshop at the Unter Druck Cafe in Berlin some few months before, gave an informal talk in English, which outlined the  basic feminist perspective. There was around 25 people in attendance, including the technicians, musicians and operators from the venue, and the talk  was aimed as much for the benefit of the assembled  men in the room, as part of a  sensitisation process. The notes from the talk are included as a PDF document within this article (below)

Squatting is very common in Marseille as there is a large amount of long standing empty houses and flats, which  was previously the case in cities like London (now made largely  illegal) and Berlin (where it has never been actually legal but was tolerated until  recent  hyper urban renewal.  This means that socially engaged artisans, activists and the homeless have a greater chance to live in a safe space which encourages social cohesion  and community spirit. In the evening we visited le Guepier, a community squat which was being evicted in the coming week. The programme for this particular evening  was organised by  LGBTQA+  artists , although the audience was mixed ,which made for a positive and familiar environment for the SATB team.

24.04

The day was spent preparing for the evenings public event at lEmbobineuse, the SATB team helped with cooking and cleaning as well as costume design using plastic trash found in the local neighbourhood. Before the event there was a film screening  premiere from Company Peanuts "The Scapegoat Workshops"  at the nearby  le Gyptis cinema.

The scapegoat workshops from lembobineuse on Vimeo.

After the screening, the cinema audience walked the short distance to lEmbobineuse for  food and drink , followed by a programmed evening of entertainmant. in an improvised initiative, Czentrifuga offered the chance to all S.A.T.B: participants to join in with an improvised costume performance. Fotos by Czentrifuga / Erasmus Plus exchange student Minnie Griffith can be seen  here .

More images from this  altogther remarkable Marseille visit  can be seen here.

Finally , not to forget to mention Agnes, who has a small studio space at lEmbobineuse, and kindly invited us to visit her urban garden at "Jaudin de Gibraltar" , also in the local area. This garden contrasts the Covenant as it is built on  waste ground and takes into consideration the polluted earth and how it is possible le to slowly clean the soil in order to grow edible vegetables and, of course merci beaucoup to  our hosts and guides for their enthusiasm and kindness and an alltogther enlightening learning experience.

the author John Moulden a.k.a "Coost" Marselle 2018

 “Step across the Border” (Edition Berlin-Arnhem)

This is an educational exchange initiative between  Rijn IJssel school (Arnhem) and Unter Druck Kultur von der Strasse e.V. (Berlin), which reflects upon the ongoing transnational  teacher exchange project of the same name "Step Across the Border" (S.A.T.B.): "an international  grassroots initiative, since 2017, aimed at  using and developing basic creative education techniques with socially marginalised people." (stepacrosstheborder.eu). This Arnhem-Berlin initiative is coordinated by  Marciana Timmermans, teacher  at Rijn IJssel Creative Industry and the  aim is to encourage  the  Arnhem  students to  reflect on S.A.T.B. themes  (link) 

The Rijn IJssel project seeks to generate more understanding for people who live in difficult situations. The students will develop a personal opinion about this and  explore possibilities about how they could contribute with their creative and personal skills in terms of generating more publicity for these problems and generate solutions.

Participants: 42 students: Art&Design(13), Spatial Design (10), Interior Design (19) and 5 teachers, together with staff from the  Berlin homeless peoples initiative Unter Druck Kultur von der Strasse e.V. and its  creative atelier space ,Czentrifuga.  The  respective  periods for  activities are 5th - 19th of May 2018 in Berlin and 2nd - 10th of June 2018 in Arnhem. In both instances, activities will be spread amongst different locations.

Period 1: Plan for S.A.T.B. Activities in May 2018 in Berlin

Monday 7 May 20:00: Discussion at Aquarium In September 2017, the EU supported Step Across the Border project, hosted its “kick off” event in at the aquarium on Kottbusser Tor, Kreuzberg. Now we return to this sympathetic location with a follow up event instigated by the Rijn IJssel school SATB initiative.This relatively new space, specialises in political and socio-cultural events including  discussions, lectures and film screenings and  self help activities run by local residents, such a the social councelling group “Hartzer Roller”. Aquarium is a partner project of the long established Südblock which is a cafe and events space located next door and (also) a safe space for use bv various socially marginalised groups to make their own meetings and activities . Instigating the discussion will be guests, the Syrian born Waael Fares and also Verena Antensterne (Austria) who will join a discussion panel and share their respective experiences of refugee life and living rough on the streets.

10 and 11 May 10:00 - 20:00: Workshop for Design & Construction of  Compact Shelters for the Homeless at B.L.O. Ateliers B.L.O. Ateliers is situated in the former railway depot Berlin-Lichtenberg-Ost, Berlin and is homebase for over 100 artists, artisans and handworkers who make up Lockunst e.V. , an  association that  produces regular cultural activities and open workshops, including  this new international cooperation  together with Rijn IJssel and Unter Druck - Kultur von der Strasse e.V. 

Here, 8 groups of  students will design and create small shelters for possible future use by homeless people, using recycled and found materials. Activities will be organised over two days  in co-op with visitors from the Unter Druck homeless peoples meeting point. Food will be provided by the UK /Berlin waste food recycling project Real Junk Food Project.

Period 2: Plan for S.A.T.B. Activities June 2018 in Arnhem

Unter Druck & Czentrifuga staff will visit Arnhem in June (Saturday the 2 of June until Sunday the 10 of June) 2018 to make print and design workshops, exhibition and performance together with Rijn IJssel school students and staff, and interested artists/citizens in Arnhem.

- Exhibition about CZ and Unter Druck in the first weekend and the first days of the week (Sunday 3 June 15.00 hrs, vernissage with drinks, music and performance). And art work Rijn IJssel students made during their stay in Berlin.

- During the week: workshops with CZ, students Rijn IJssel, interested residents of Arnhem and artists/musicians at  a large warehouse space in the centre of Arnhem.

- Last weekend: exhibition and performances which are the result of the workshops and
other cooperations. (Saturday 9 June 15.00 hrs, finissage with drinks, music and
performance).

Rijn IJssel Participants

Students from Art&Design, Spatial Design, Interior Design, Human Technology, Musician, Make up, Hair Design,

Performing Arts, Event Marketing and Graphic Design faculties together with  Rijn IJssel teaching staff.

Unter Druck/Czentrifuga Participants

Stine Lawine, Yt Winterthaler, David Braithwaite, Werner Kernebeck and Marko Krojac

.................................................................................................................

First "Kick Off" meeting with  particpants, staff and invited guests from Germany, France and UK . The group become aquainted, decide on an effective format for holding efficient and  horizontally structured meetings/discussions, as well as discussing SATB methodology; options for self evaluation and the upcoming 5 day itinerary.

Berlin Organisation

Czentrifuga and the Unter Druck Cafe are separate locations in Berlin, both of which are  organised by parent socio-cultural association Unter Druck – Kultur von der Strasse e.V. (since 1992)

Czentrifuga, in the Friedrichshain area, specialises in workshops for screenprinting, music and animation as well as homebase for performance group Gogo Trash who recycle found materials to create costumes, transforming environments for public spectacles.

Unter Druck Cafe in the Wedding area, is open six days a week , providing free food and drinks for the homeless, and other socially marginalised people, as well as offering professional pedagogic help for guests. The Cafe also serves as a space for creative activities including workshops for theater, graphic, music and discussion.

Activities

As well as being the first opportunity for all the partner organisations to all meet and greet, this SATB “kick off” meeting, was planned to include visits and exchanges with socio cultural institutions, organisations and workshops that relate to the partner organisations' ongoing work with marginalised groups, as well as special attention to the needs of women and LGBTQ+ migrants and refugees. The partnership seeks to integrate with a wider network of individuals and organisations by highlighting and promoting its work at public events, with guest speakers, public discussion, music, exhibition and performance.

Wednesday 20.09 19Uhr:  Step Across the Border @ aquarium

Infotainment Evening with Introduction to the Project, Discussion, Music & Performance

Originally planned for 21.09, we were fortunate to be able to switch the date to the previous day, after the original date had been booked by another organisation during the waiting period  for application approval. The aquarium, together with its neighbour and sister location Südblock, are situated directly in the colourfull and culturally diverse Kottbusser Tor area. These locations run many socio cultural activities together with local communities and are also meeting points for various LGBTQ+ and refugee supporting organisations, making it the perfect environment in which to make this event.

Step Across

The evening began with a ceremonial opening performance by Gogo Trash and members from the partner organisations, whereby, we installed a wall made from cardboard and covered in gold (found coffee wrapping material) which blocked the entrance to the venue. The wall itself was printed with unfriendly looking cartoon border security guards  which were only revealed as we tore away the gold paper, whereupon we gently pushed the wall flat to the ground, clearing the way for the waiting guests to go inside. This action was a reflection  on Donald Trumps wall plans in Mexico, as well as a symbolic reference to the name of our project. Special thanks to Vasja and Louis for live musical accompaniament!

Podium Discussion

The discussion began with a mission statement and representatives from the three project partners explained something about the work of their respective organisations. The subject of sensitization to working with traumatised and descriminated people was a main topic amongst podium and audience, as was the theme of “burn out” and the importance of “caring for the carers” in recognition of the psychological stress and fatigue that often comes with this kind of work. Other topics we touched on were the necessity and implementation of safe spaces for women/LGBTQ+ in the the context of migrants and refugees. and also the sensitive, conflicting issues and problematic of how these groups intersect.

We  made it clear  that this was an open for all project and that we were actively looking for new allies, collecting names and addresses from the guests, amongst them doctors, therapists and artists.

A positive surprise of the five day Berlin programme was our unplanned cooperation with the Marseille based performance group La Fêlure. (http://lafelure.eklablog.com/) We were already expecting the attendance of group member Blandine Voineau as she is a key member of both SATB and l`Embobineuse, but did not recognise, until shortly before the event, that La Fêlure would be also be in Berlin on a parallel EU funded course "Mobility kit learning from vocational education and training"  LINK . La Fêlure were highly motivated to join in the aquarium event and Czentrifuga reciprocated by helping them produce screenprinted buisness cards and flyers for their upcoming event  at Villa Kuriosum which was curiously and coincidently,  a location SATB had also planned into its schedule of activities.

The thirty minute performance "Prosexus" questions sexuality and freedom through a feminine prism. Between poetry and performance, the group attempt to destabilise preconceptions and social conditioning, creating a space for change and improvistion. The performance was warmly received by the audience, striking a sympathetic note with the evenings programme.

Dj Lyon (Reboot FM) played vinyl records in between the activities and we are now working on creating a talk radioshow for Reboot in advance of the next main meeting in Marseille.

Approximately 200 people attended the free event which was perfect for the size of the location. We also made a big collective effort in preparing a delicious free buffet using organic food from the OLIB farm collective, next to Berlin. The same place where we would be making our next public event on the coming weekend. (http://www.suedblock.org/wp/)

Thursday 21.09 11:00 “15 Years Raw-Culture Manufacture”

SATB Partner Meeting at Czentrifuga, Ostkreuz

In my role as project coordinator and Czentrifuga/ Unter Druck public relations worker, I talked with the French and British partner organisations about our organisational set up. We tried to be as open and non dogmatic as possible during this first kick off meeting, in an effort to encourage new inputs and ideas and, with this in mind, we accepted Raggi Koteks (TNH) offer to facilitate a “Process Work” session which she is currently studying in London.

My aim was to run a session based on the facilitation technique of Process Work. This is a technique aimed at facilitating issues between people and following the natural process that occurs.

We looked at some of the issues that were concerning us as a group. And started by examining some of the different experiences impacting migrants and refugees and those around them. The session was intense and stirred up feelings of racism, injustice and lack of recognition of those that do provide support.

The group shifted focus to personal sharing between the members and a deep conversation took place where experiences of marginalisation and privilege were apparent and members were able to get more of a sense of what the group was bringing - individually and collectively. Overall, it felt like we reached  somewhere . We lifted the lid of some of the difficult issues we are dealing with on a macro level and highlighted how those issues were also reflected within us personally. A good start.

Unknowingly, this intense and emotional two hour meeting was to be the first test of the groups resilience. A lot of issues were raised  both on personal and professional levels. Indeed, the mood was sometimes angry, as many of us felt quite exposed within the process . This  unplanned "in at the deep end" first partnership  meeting was generally helpfull in the difficult  process of sensitisation to the the SATB thematic. Now we need to create  a structure and  methodology for future meetings in an effort to safeguard personal boundaries, and ensure an  efficient and friendly group dynamic.

Somewhat exhausted, and full of food for thought, we left the Czentrifuga to visit cultural location Villa Kuriosum  - a free, self-organised cultural space combining visual and performing arts linking local with international cultures. The location name refers to a dedicated museum room known as a Curiosity Cabinet or “Wunderkammer” “encyclopedic collections of objects whose categorical boundaries were, inRenaissance< Europe, yet to be defined. Modern terminology would categorize the objects included as belonging to natural history (sometimes faked), geology,ethnography, archaeology, religious or historical relics, works of art (including cabinet paintings), and antiques. "The Kunstkammer was regarded as a microcosm  or theater of the world, and a memory theater. (Wikipedia)

Perhaps the greatest attraction of the Villa is its impressive orchard and a garden filled with a bewildering assortment of flora and fauna through which run discreet public walkways and hidden sitting areas. We particularly wanted to show this urban garden to True North Health and their plant and herb specialist Rasheeqa, and, coincidently, La Felure would be performing here on the following Friday.  Here, we were able to take in the sunset ,reflect chat and relax. This location is a must for anyone interested in Berlin subculture, there's a video clip showing the garden here http://villakuriosum.net/index.php/about-us/garten

Friday 08.09 11:00 Visit to Unter Druck Cafe Wedding, Berlin.

Women from the SATB group visited the weekly “Frauen Cafe” at our cafe for homeless (and those in danger of becoming homeless) in the Wedding district, whereby they met main organiser Ulla Benz , district council prize winner 2017 for recognition of her long standing voluntary work. The intended activity plan had to be modified due to two cases of sickness amongst the group, however, once again, La Fêlure were eager to participate and contribute, which was a huge success with the cafe guests. More infos/fotos here: http://stepacrosstheborder.eu/article/friday-2209-2017-unter-druck-cafe-frauentag-special

Magdi, theater producer from Compagnie Peanuts and representing SATB partner, l`Embobineuse, attended the Unter Druck evening theater probe which is run by our association founder Jan Markowsky.

Support

Its important to mention the support from Czentrifugs two new "praktikantin" Renate Rey and Minnie Griffiths. Renate studies at  Academy of Art in Arnhem (NL) and is making a practicum at the Czentrifuga and Unter Druck locations as part of her studies. (https://www.artez.nl).  Renate has proved to be resourcefull, dynamic , occupied with photography, video filming / editing , printing, organisation, website and PR. SATB benefits greatly from her enthusiasm and inputs, in much the same way as the work of Minnie Griffiths, another new student amongst us, this time coming from Marseille. Minnie is sponsored by the European Voluntary Service or EVS and works under the guidance of Unter Druck team member Margita Weiler who has a long standing experience with this programme aimed at youth and young adult training.

Minnie and Renate took it upon themselves to share the Berlin SATB audio, video and foto documentation,  LINKS TO FOTO ARCHIVES There's also a PDF document created by Minnie which is attached at the end of this article, that details her SATB experience. Meanwhile video clips and audio bytes from the 5 days of activities, are currently being edited for online presentation...

O.L.I.B. Hoffest 23-25.09 2017   LINK TO MINIES PHOTOS     LINK TO RENATES PHOTOS   Organischer Landbau in Bienenwerder e.V. (O.L.I.B.) is an organic arm in Bienenwerder in the Brandenburg Oderland near Müncheberg, 50 kilometers east of Berlin. The farm manages 50 hectares of land and is operated collectively by approximately 15 people, including individuals, families, apprentices and trainees who live and work together there. For over 10 years they have been producing organic vegetables, as well as dairy goats, horses, cows, ducks, chickens and bees. The farm products supply collectively operated health food stores in Berlin including Bio Kraft Keller which is coordinated  by people from the farm. OLIB also delivers to Berlin food sharing initiatives as well as supporting actions for socio cultural activities including migrant and refugee support.
 

Sa.23.09 10Uhr "Cake, Bake n' Talk" Bring your special ingredients and favourite cake recipes!

Paula Gioia is a member of the OLIB collective as well as activist with the German organisation A.b.l. (Association of Rural Agriculture: http://www.abl-ev.de/start/) and also spokesperson for the international peasant farmers movement, La Via Campesina (https://viacampesina.org/en/).  Variety is the spice of life and, together with SATB members and festival guests, Paula organised a collective early morning cake baking action during which she informally discussed one aspect of her work which promoting gender diversity and tolerance in rural areas.

Kräuter und Planzen Identifikationstour mit Rasheeqa Ahmad (True North Health)

Rasheeqa made the countryside  tour together with support from Gabba (O.L.I.B. /Czentrifuga). As the video (coming soon!) will show, the two women established a good rapport  and  it was an educational  and entertaining mixture of insights from both academic and  folkloric perspectives, together with  helpfull translations back and forth between English and  German and of course Latin!  Approximately 35 people took part in the tour.

Movement Medicine: Introduction with Caroline Smart and Movement Medicine Course with Raggi Kotek (2 x True North Health)

We create a space in which everyone is welcome. We teach a procedure called "Movement Medicine". It's a fun way to dance and follow instructions if you wish. For many, life is just a big challenge. Our goal is to create a place where you can take some time off from yourself, shake off a few things that pull you down, re-connect to  yourself and  give you strength.We ask you to be there from the beginning. We will close the doors after 15 minutes warm up. It is allowed to enter and leave the room if you wish, we only want to lock the doors for newcomers who may interrupt the flow. Wear clothes where you can move easily, layers are good. We dance barefoot, unless you want to wear slippers. Raggi x

The  one and a half hour workshop demonstration included approximately 25 people, including SATB members and refugees from nearby Garzau/ Garcin camp,

Film Presentation from Oliver Speiser about the  North Borneo Kollektiv – "Pangrok Sulap in Berlin"

Exhibition of large format wood cut prints and Woodcut Workshop. http://youtube.com/watch?v=Jf2C8t0CPjk&feature=youtu.be

Czentrifuga met Oliver earlier in the year in Berlin,  helping him to promote an upcoming visit from the Borneo collective.  We were all "flashed" how sympathetic these people  were and, together we worked on woodcut designs , some which  refllected Pangroks Sulaps homeland, its incredible  nature (famous for Orangutangs amongst others) as well as the danger  posed to the environment  by pharmaceutical and agrocultural corporations. As part of a solidarity action, which also included a a music and info event, we also worked on creating designs for "Turkeys first LGBTQ+  football team" Sportif Lezbon. Our thoughts are with them , as we learn that Turkey has since  forbidden public actions with LGBTQ+ .http://www.middleeasteye.net/in-depth/features/sportif-lezbon-turkey-s-first-lgbt-football-team-687044868

Olivers film about this Berlin experience  was shown to a packed  room and the subsequent  woodcut workshop attracted  approximately  30 people.  Approximately 300 people attended the farm festival. Special thanks to the  live bands Racket Alert, Lottaleben, Dirty Feetz and Option Weg as well as Dj Team Acid Burrito for there part in producing  this festival!

Sunday 24.09 informal meeting.

On a cold morning, sitting around a warm campfire, the SATB group talked informally about their recent experiences,brainstorming new inputs for the next main meeting in Marseille, as well as solving  logistical and financial issues before the return to Berlin, and eventually flights, cars and buses back to UK and France for our SATB guests.

 Conclusions

We recognised that organising our kick off event so soon after  receiving the official go ahead was perhaps too soon.. There was little time  and there was a lot of pressure to  mobilise, make efficient promotion and establish rapport and win trust from related peer organisations and initiatives as well as women and LGBTQ+ from migrant and refugee diasporas. We did not achieve to bring all of the  sympathetic organisations to the Aquarium kick off meeting that we wished for, as some were already booked or could not come at short notice. Howvere, SATB advisors and specialists Dr Tanja Ehmann and Jakob Kirchheimer helped to lend a professional tone and discipline to what turned out to be a worthwhile and sensitive first major discussion, which has helped place us on the map.

Unlike the TNH and lÈmbobineuse staff who  have long and ongoing experiences with working with migrant women and migrant LGBTQ+ migrants, this is a relatively new  field of inquiry for Unter Druck/Czentrifuga which is necessitated by  the  recent  phenomena of ca. 1.5 million recent refugees in Germany, not to forget the rising migrational flow from East Europe. We were fortunate to team up with Julia Kapelle who is developing learning software Trickmisch in order to help refugees and migrants, and, in the run up to our SATB  first  meeting, invited Czentrifuga  to a women refugees  printing  workshop  https://hausderstatistik.org/unser-modellprojekt-die-zusammenkunft-in-der-stresemannstr-95   Also thanks to Aquarium director Claud, for her thoughtfull insights into our new project and help with orientation amongst the various migrant/refugee support groups in Berlin as well as  the  good day out promoting SATB at the  Berlin anti descrimination rally in September ! 

Next Steps

Focus on next meeting in Marseille.

Consolidate Berlin contacts - Initiate new activities.

............................

FOTO LINK

13:30Uhr  @ Unter Druck, Oudenarderstr. 26, 13347 : Improvisation &  Poetry by the women of  La felure from Marseille (20 min)

La felure  results of its own process. It bets on the empowering dimension of creation-when this creation is collective. While performance stands as its primal  artistic manifestation, it claims to fit in no preset form, enjoying the blurry lines that seperate one another and the potentialities those forms open up. _La felure_ plays with bodies, it's times and it's spaces, like to mess around with the bundaries and to multiply loopholes.'

http://lafelure.eklablog.com/

& Special Guests -  True North Health (London)

http://stepacrosstheborder.eu/content/true-north-health