Symposium 2019: Community Building and Audience Research

At the symposium we want to ask ourselves: who is the audience for the independent performing arts? How can  (new) communities be reached? What do we understand when we use the term "community" - and do we all understand the same thing? What opportunities for participation are we offering?

Short presentations and examples from artistic praxis as well as academia will demonstrate on this day how cultural participation in the independent performing arts far beyond simply attending a performance can be realized and will provide insight into the current state of research into audience research and participation in the independent performing arts community.Workshops will support artists and culture makers in the development of strategies, for example, the incorporation of the interests of a variety of communities in shaping the schedule of programming or the establishment and maintenance of contacts to certain communities and their representatives.

With: Zwoisy Mears Clarke (freelance choreographers), Katja Grawinkel-Claassen (dramaturgy & audience development, Forum Freies Theater Düsseldorf), Prof. Dr. Tibor Kliment (Rheinische Fachhochschule Cologne), Shanti Suki Osman (artist, researcher, educator), Anne Schneider (BFDK) and additional guests 

Schedule of Events:

10:00 am: Registration and Café
 
10:30 am: Welcome, Introduction to the Day, Presentation of the Schedule of Events
with Swetlana Gorich, Juliane Wieland (Berlin Performing Arts Program), Andreas Altenhof and Benjamin Stein (invited) (Neuköllner Oper), Marianne Ramsay-Sonneck (Vorstand LAFT Berlin e. V.)  
 
11:00 am: Short Presentations "Communication from the Point of View of Artists, Performance Venues, Communicators and Scholars" – members of the cultural community approach the thematic topic of the symposium from a variety of perspectives.
 
"Inclusion and Physical Diversity in Processes of Artistic Creation“ – Zwoisy Mears Clarke (freelance choreographer) provides insight into the process of artistic creation of choreographic work Worn and Felt and Subjects of Position that were created from the very beginning in a team with professional and non-professional visually impaire dancers as well as in exchange with tanzfähig (a Berlin-based initiative for more physical diversity in contemporary dance) and DBSV (Deutscher Blinden- und Sehbehindertenverband e.V., the German association for the blind and visually impaired).

"Designing Schedules of Programming Between the Participation of the Inhabitants of the City and Experimental Positions Within the Independent Performing Arts" – Katja Grawinkel Claassen (dramaturgy & audience development) presents Forum Freies Theater Düsseldorf (FFT) and its communication program.
 
"How Can an Audience Survey of the Independent Performing Arts Community be Conducted and What Does Such a Survey Communicate About the Image and Degree of Recognition of the Independent Performing Arts as well as Barriers to Audience Members and How These Can be Overcome?" – Prof. Dr. Tibor Kliment (Rheinische Fachhochschule Cologne) speaks about the process of conducting the "(Almost) Audience Survey of Cologne's Independent Performing Arts Community" in 2018 and presents its most important results as well as possible recommendations for action.
 
12:15 pm: Conversation with moderator Fatima Çaliskan
Following the short presentations, the speakers will come together for a panel discussion.
 
1:00 pm: Lunch Break
Soup, bread and drinks will ensure that the guests are comfortable.
 
2:00 pm: Workshop Facilitators Introduce Themselves

2:30 pm Workshops 
The workshops will support artists and culture makers in the incorporation of the interests of a variety of communities in shaping the schedule of programming or the establishment and maintenance of contacts to certain communities and their representatives. They invite the participants to reflect upon empowerment and a critical attitude in cultural communication praxis.
 
WORKSHOP Empowerment Instead of (Communication) / Routing - A Critical Attitude for Cultural Communication Praxis
What does it mean to think about communication processes as empowerment instead simply charting out a path to the institutions? Who empowers whom? When can empowerment also weaken? This workshop will support those working in the field of culture to position themselves and, in doing so, use methods and strategies that give the participants (the audience members watching and / or participating) a voice. With: Shanti Suki Osman (artist, educator and researcher).

WORKSHOP "Participation & Diversity in Structures & Cooperations - Building Sustainable Relationships" 
Community representatives are valuable multipliers and partners for artistic and cultural institutions for becoming better acquainted with a variety of communities and establishing proximity to them. Using the example of projects conducted by Berlinische Galerie with Kunstwerkstatt Kreuzberg der Lebenshilfe gGmbH, this workshop will provide insight into cooperations between artistic institutions and representatives of different communities within a city. This deals with the establishment of long-term relationships, their design and continuity as well as the sharing of knowledge and experiences. With Barbara Antal (artist and art educator at Berlinische Galerie), David Permantier (social worker, director of Kunstwerkstatt Kreuzberg der Lebenshilfe), Hilde Wittur (art eduator and artist at Kunstwerkstatt Kreuzberg der Lebenshilfe).

ROUND TABLE "Conducting Participation / Audience Research at Your Own Institution (with Simple Tools)." 
Who is my audience composed of? What are its needs and how does it see me? Cultural institutions report about their experiences with audience research, discuss the motivations that moved them to conduct audience research and share the knowledge they have gained from the surveys, studies and research conducted.
With André Kraft (Director Communication & Marketing Komische Oper Berlin), Prof. Dr. Tibor Kliment (Rheinische FH Köln) and Dave Balzer (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz).

4:14 pm: Closing Brief Presentation "Communication in Urban and Rural Spaces and Introduction of the Performing Exchange (PEX)"
with Anne Schneider (business management of Bundesverband freie darstellende Künste, the German Federal Association of the Independent Performing Arts)
 
From 4:30 pm Apéro (informal networking)
Over the course of a closing aperitif, we warmly invite you to continue the discussions and network with colleagues.
 
All working in the field of culture are invited to take part. We look forward to the exchange!

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