A report from our employee in the Voluntary Year of Participation program, Clara Siller:
The audiovisual exhibition „MIGRATION to Berlin – Now I am here“ presented my project, which involved three young people participating in a voluntary social year across different placement sites. The collection of images and statements was created in collaboration with the volunteers Gunda (FEZ), Andreas (BildungsCent), and Marieke (SELAM).
The project was funded within the framework of Voluntary Year Participation (FJB), which promotes the political engagement of young people. Founded in 2012, the FJB aims to create a volunteer service by volunteers for volunteers, encouraging and empowering young people to get involved. Each volunteer is encouraged to contribute their own skills, interests, and talents, thereby contributing to a variety of projects and their development. To support the implementation of collaborative projects, each project group receives individual guidance from an external contact person who provides methodological advice and shares their own experience.
In November 2015, our group met for a seminar to gather goals and ideas for the project. It quickly became clear that we all found the topic of German asylum policy fascinating and were frustrated by the many ambiguities and errors reported in the news, and by the fact that the discussions were conducted without refugees. We wanted to raise awareness of these issues among as many people as possible, so we set ourselves the goal of creating a platform to give refugees a voice.
Over the course of the months, we met several times and got in touch with a blogger who runs the blog „Spread the Words“He runs a blog that collects the often marginalized voices of people who have had frustrating experiences with borders. In doing so, he puts the spotlight on those who are often talked about, rather than talked to. The blog serves as a mouthpiece and open platform for the diverse experiences of refugees, highlighting and emphasizing the variety and uniqueness of each statement.
During the meetings, our project group exchanged ideas with the blogger on the topic and various projects that also work in the field of asylum policy. We learned about a collaboration between the blog "Spread the Words" and 48 Hours Neukölln, an art festival in Berlin, and we agreed to help with this exhibition. From a combination of his statements and images, we created a part of the exhibition "MIGRATION to Berlin – Now I am here".
This exhibition, organized by 48Stunden Neukölln, presented the experiences and impressions of people who have only recently moved to Berlin. The audiovisual exhibition gave voice to people who came to Berlin at different times, from different places, and for various reasons. They shared their personal experiences and works on the theme of 'MIGRATION to Berlin – Now I am here'. They used audio, photos, drawings, and video in their presentations. Among other things, the exhibition also featured stories of migrants and refugees in Germany. It comprised a collection of diverse projects and works by various artists.
We designed part of this exhibition with statements and images from "Spread the Words." For this, we used pictures from the "March for Freedom" in 2014. At that time, refugees and their supporters walked from Kehl to Brussels. From the stories of many individual, often unheard and isolated voices, an entire movement of people emerged, a movement that...
They wanted to create a better future for themselves and their families. The images and recordings from this march showed frustration, hope, uncertainty, and the people's perseverance in trying to change their situation. To present the material, we created booklets so that visitors could see the statements alongside the images.
The exhibition took place at „Fourth World Collaborations“The exhibition took place at Kottbusser Tor from July 15th to 27th. Our project group met on July 15th for the opening of the exhibition to set up our materials and get to know the artists and their projects. I enjoyed working on the project with my team. It was great to develop a project independently outside of my work at wannseeFORUM, and inspiring to work with volunteers from and
I worked at various locations. I learned a lot about group processes and communication between project participants, and discovered just how much organization is actually involved in putting on such an exhibition. When we all saw our work on the wall on opening day, that was definitely the highlight of the project.
I would like to register at the wannseeFORUM and the FJB team Many thanks, especially to Julian Knop, our contact person during the project, for his excellent advice. We also extend our sincere thanks to our contact person, Dinah von. 48 Hours Neukölln and the blogger from „Spread the Words“Thank you for your support and flexibility regarding our cooperation. Last but not least, I would like to commend my fellow volunteers for their fantastic work. It was truly enjoyable working with you all.”.