Work critical of racism at Dampfzentrale Berne

The reflection on discrimination-sensitive structures began in 2019 together with Schlachthaus Theater Berne. Both institutions have undertaken various further training and in-depth work in the years 2020 to 2022. The approaches, to «The 5Ps» or «5Ps+Z» (after Mark Terkessidis, complemented by Joshua Kwesi Aikins, Ivana Pilić and Rahel El-Maawi and Anisha Imhasly), aimed at three levels:

• Team: together with experts Rahel El-Maawi and Estefania Cuero, we have completed four workshops as a team.
• In addition to the individual in-depth work, we developed measures for Dampfzentrale and formed working groups in order to further the work towards a discrimination sensitive institution.
• Artists: We’ve invited artists close to Dampfzentrale to two-part workshops with Rahel El-Maawi and Estefania Cuero.
• Audience: As a last step we’ve offered our audience four public workshops with Rahel El-Maawi, Estefania Cuero, Dshamilja Gosteli, Pascale Altenburger and Marianne Naeff.

We are open to feedback and dialogue.
If you have any feedback, please feel free to contact us at willkommen@dampfzentrale.ch.

Joint measures and events with the Schlachthaus Theater

• • Collaboration with the artist Ntando Cele, who accompanies both cultural houses as «Counsel». For Dampfzentrale, Ntando Cele reflects with us on the approach to our programme and supports us in reaching a broader audience.
  • Offering anti-racist trainings for the whole team.
  • November 2021: Participation in the lab meeting of Fachstelle für Rassismusbekämpfung FRB.
  • The event series «exit RACISM»:

Public Workshops (held in German):

• 01.12.21 Handeln, weil wir Rassismus erfahren 
• 22.01.22 Rassismus ver.w.orten – Rassistische Strukturen erkennen und benennen
• 25.02.22 Umgang mit Rassismus auf und hinter der Bühne – Für BIPoC Kunstinteressierte
• 24.03.22 Wie weisse Kunstschaffende von Rassismus auf und hinter der Bühne profitieren – Eine Einführung

Lecture:

• 13.02.22 Tupoka Ogette «Vom Wandel weisser Institutionen»

• Since 2019: Creation of a BIPoC Watch&Talk group for the festival «Tanz in Bern».
• 2021: Post performance talk Alleyne Dance «A Night’s Game» only for BIPoC
• Since 2022: Welcoming hosts for artists during the festivals «Tanz in Bern» and «Full Of Lava»(fka Saint Ghetto)
• Since 2020: Collaboration with Café Révolution (e.g. for follow-up talks and ticket allotments)
• 2023: Safe(r) Space during the first hour of the party for BIPoC and Queer People Restless Night #2 Tanz in Bern feat. STFU

Safe(r) Spaces

Establishing Safe(r) Spaces is one of the measures that Dampfzentrale takes in its program.A Safe(r) Space recognizes that an experience of discrimination, such as an experience of racism, is also an experience of violence. Safe(r) Spaces convey to people affected by racism that they do not have to explain that they experience various forms of violence in their everyday lives. You can find a definition of safe(r) spaces here.

Dampfzentrale has the desire to recognize the racist structures which are deeply rooted in society in our daily work, to break through the white perspective and to critically question ourselves as institutions. This process is never complete and we remain committed as a learning institution. In 2023, the team adopted a pledge to commit itself to discrimination-sensitive work and behavior. In addition, a Code of Conduct has been published, which will also give the audience of Dampfzentrale further opportunities to work together to establish a discrimination-sensitive place.

In our work we include knowledge from experts. A non-exhaustive list of our sources can be found here:

• Ogette, Tupoka: exit Racism. Rassismuskritisch denken lernen. Münster: Unrast Verlag 2017. 
• We use this glossary to guide our use of language:
  Language Powerful: Glossary Against Racism by Bla*Sh, created by Jovita dos Santos Pinto and Rahel El-Maawi, 2018, last update 2022.
• Privilegien Check on behalf of the action week against racism of the city of Berne. März 2021  https://www.bern.ch/themen/auslanderinnen-und-auslander/integration-und-migration/diskriminierung-und-rassismus/bern-gegen-rassismus/die-aktionswoche/check-deine-privilegien
• Haster, Alice: Was weiße Menschen nicht über Rassismus hören wollen aber wissen sollten. Berlin: Hanser, 2020.
• Terkessidis, Mark: Nach der Flucht. Neue Ideen für die Einwanderungsgesellschaft. [Was bedeutet das alles?], Reclam, 2017.
• Dokumentation SRF: Rassismus in der Schweiz – Der Sommer, in dem ich «Schwarz» wurde.
• Dokumentation 3sat «Die Macht der Vorurteile»