Part III
**PLEASE NOTE: This event had to be postponed by one week to August 11th, 7pm**
**All events will take place online**
On August 11th, we continue with the third and last event of the third season of our series »Dissolving Territories | cultural geographies of a new eelam«. This year’s edition is being held in cooperation with the Bildungswerk Berlin of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
»DISSOLVING TERRITORIES« deals with issues of exile, displacement and statelessness from a specifically Eelam-Tamil perspective. This series seeks to bring these realities and lived experiences into focus; lifeworlds that have consistently been ignored, placed out of context and silenced both inside and outside of Germany. With this series we want to take a look at the everyday cultures of memory and resistance of Eelam-Tamils and attempt to discuss territorial and cultural geographic issues as well as deconstruct local myths around the issues of flight and resistance in Germany.
The third season of »Dissolving Territories« is dedicated to the aspect of solidarity between different oppressed and stateless peoples: we will bring together Eelam-Tamil and Kurdish perspectives and explicitly look for intersections in relation to experiences in (German) exile. Topics we willbe addressing include:
- 7+ Digital Landscapes
- 8+ Fabrics and clothing
- 9+ Births in exile
The series »Dissolving Territories« was jointly initiated and conceptualised by Iris Rajanayagam (xart splitta) and Sinthujan Varatharajah. For the third season, we are pleased to have Elif Küçük with us, who will be contributing to the series on both a conceptual as well as artistic level.
9+ Birth in Exile
Wednesday, August 11th 2021, 7pm
Guest Speaker: Melek Erdal
**This event will take place online in English spoken language**
To birth in exile is to bring to new life in exile. In this last episode of Dissolving Territories’ third season, we will explore what it means for Eelam Tamils and for Kurds to give birth in exile – and what it means to be born in exile.
Who are the children born in displacement? How does birth in exile differ from birth in a homeland? What is the potential and role of people born in exile in the struggle against statelessness? And does exile create new kinds of people? In light of these questions, we get into conversation with Melek Erdal. The event will open with a short presentation by Sinthujan Varatharajah. This will be followed by a panel discussion with:
- Sinthujan Varatharajah, Elif Küçük and Melek Erdal
- Moderation: Iris Rajanayagam (xart splitta)
Registration via the Bildungswerk Berlin of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
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Sinthujan Varatharajah is a political geographer, essayist and researcher based in Berlin. Varatharajah’s work focuses on geographies of power, displacement and statelessness. In 2020, Varatharajah was part of the 11th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art with the exhibition “how to* move an ark”. In spring 2022, Varatharajah’s first book will be published by Hanserblau.
Elif Küçük is a visual artist and art director from Berlin. She works with the means of photography and videography, digital illustration and animation. Her work focuses on visual explorations of tenderness, solidarity and resistance. Since October 2020, she has been working as an editorial designer at in the ze.tt department of ZEIT ONLINE.
Melek Erdal is a Kurdish cook, teacher, writer and documentary filmmaker based in London.
The event takes place in cooperation with the Bildungswerk Berlin of the Heinrich Böll Foundation and within the framework of the LADS-funded project #CommunitiesSolidarischDenken.
Realised with funds from the Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin.
