Yay, our Pop-up Institute starts into the artistic phase! In the kick-off meeting on June 24/25, 2021, all collaborators met for the first time in Berlin to artistically work together. In the team: Experts with schizophrenia experience, experts in Creative Arts Therapies, visual arts, music, performance, dance and theater as well as a director and camerawoman.
pop-up institute
The Pop-up Institute, founded by Lily Martin and myself, is a collaborative project between the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences and the HKS – University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Ottersberg and is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. The Pop-up Institute does Science Communication with the aim of reducing the societal stigma of mental illness by means of Creative Arts Therapies. Its first project adresses schizophrenia.
kick-off meeting
After a few months of bureaucracy and a lot of organizational work, last week we met for the first time with all eight collaborators at the Salon am Moritzplatz in the middle of Kreuzberg:
- Barbara Morgenstern, Chor der Kulturen der Welt/ Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin
- Constantin von Arnim, Artist, Berlin
- Marcello Lussana, Sentire – A deep sensory experience: Human interaction transformed into sound
- Prof. Dr. Maren Witte, Tanzscout – Guide for performative arts in Berlin and HKS – University of Applied Sciences and Arts Ottersberg
- Sara Schwienbacher, PAULA – Living gallery space, Worpswede and HKS – University of Applied Sciences and Arts Ottersberg
- and others
Also with us was director and cinematographer Nina Wesemann. Nina accompanies us cinematically and shoots a documentary about the work of the Pop-up Institute.
Over two days, all participants got to know each other and worked in and with the space in various artistic media. In addition to performative and theater work, vocals and dance, we also experimented with a digital sound system that makes proximity and touch audible. Finally, the collaborators developed the first concepts for the exhibition that will take place in Berlin in 2022.
stay tuned
For the next six months, we will work on the exhibition – participatively in digital meetings and on site, in tandems and teams. The intermedial, interactive exhibition is aimed in particular at adolescents and young adults and has the goal of making schizophrenia (be)tangible: What does it sound like; what does it feel like to have schizophrenia? These tangible, sensory experiences are intended to promote empathy and, in turn, reduce stigma and prejudice against mental illness. Stay tuned!
