Organisation

Dance with the Desert | Cooperation project within the framework of 1700 Years of Jewish Life in Germany 2021 | UE Berlin – Prof. Katharina Mayer and students | HSD Düsseldorf – Prof. Anja Vormann and students | Bezalel University of Art & Design Jerusalem – Red Ruff and Students | onomato artist association Düsseldorf

For the German-Jewish festival year on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the Jewish community in Germany, we are realizing an interdisciplinary exhibition project with students from the University of Applied Sciences Europe Berlin and students from the Hochschule Düsseldorf. The students come from the fields of communication design, photography, motion design, interaction design, illustration, film and game design.

Phase I (SoSe 2021)

In an interdisciplinary seminar, students acquire knowledge about German-Jewish history, today’s diversity in the life and culture of Judaism through excursions, research and visits to events.

Phase II (Project Week SoSe 2021, May, June)

Interviews on Jewish life in Germany with the OB van in Berlin. In public space – possibly associated with an exhibition house or alternating at special places where Jewish life opens up discourses.
Interviews: A kind of setting consisting of a stage, seats and a camera will be set up in public space in front of the OB van – on the one hand, invited guests will be interviewed, on the other hand, passers-by visiting specific places of Jewish life or exhibitions, etc. The project will be technically supported by the OB van team, and the students will have the opportunity to participate by inviting guests and conducting the interviews. The aim is to create an archive of contemporary narrative culture and to show how cultural influences are interwoven in everyday life. This will take the form of an Internet archive (netspace) and a touring exhibition (with the OB van outside / integrated into contextual exhibitions / for discussion and exchange for the Israel excursion). The travelling exhibition with interviews on Jewish life in Germany does not replace the exhibition of student work, but is to be seen as a supplement. It is an archive that can grow and open up discourses.

Phase III (Summer Semester 2021/Winter Semester 2021)

In the third phase of the project, an exhibition of the students’ work will be realised in practice and an accompanying publication will be produced. The digitally equipped workspace of the »onomato artist association Düsseldorf« will serve as the workspace.

Phase IV (September or November WiSe 2021/22)

In the fourth project phase, the students will spend a week in Israel with the lecturers responsible for the project. Here, the experiences of Jewish life in Germany will be discussed with the experiences of Jewish life in Israel. The main location will be Kibbutz Sede Boker in the Israeli desert: In the “open school” run there, the students will present their initial project ideas with young and adult guests and continue them in dialogue. Excursions to Jerusalem (Orthodox Judaism) and Tel Aviv (secular Judaism) will also expand their knowledge. The aim is to get to know Jewish identity, ways of life and everyday knowledge, secular and religious Judaism. Questions about security aspects, politics and economic development in Israel are also discussed.