© Vera Schelkina. All rights reserved. Made by whalenessis.
berlin, emergency project room, 2023
unplanting the seeds
of hatred
study circle: somatic and performative practices
*gratitude to the metaphor goes to Yuval Noah Harari

This circle is a communal artistic practice, using different methods from somatics, contemporary dance, performance, and other body related practices - in order to deal with the topic of hatred.

Hatred is a complex cultural and societal phenomenon that exists in our social bodies for a huge number of reasons.

Political manipulation, power play, creating of a common enemy, scapegoating, social and economic inequality, perceived injustice, perception of fear or threat, nationalism, xenophobia, historical conflicts, generational trauma, collective memory, group dynamics, identification with a group with specific values, social conformity, media and propaganda influence.

All these factors are colonizing our bodies, playing a huge role in the times, places, and bodies we live right now.

All these factors are seemingly external.

But they are feeding on our personal ability to construct a feeling so strong that it grows from physical bodies into a socially identified body, then into a group of people, and into whole societies.

In this circle, I would like to come back to the body as the soil, where the seeds of hatred are being grown and fertilized.

In this series of sessions, which continues for the duration of 10 month we are going to develop an own methodology of unplanting.

We will start with:

  • recognising hatred as the result of a bodily process, and dealing with it from a physical perspective;

  • practicing a body as a soil and a garden(from different approaches, such as "body weather", somatic tools, butoh exersices);

  • reading and practicing theoretical texts and scientific hypothesises;

  • creating a flow of practices;

  • coming up with one or more communal practices by the end of our meetings - in a form of an open meeting, showing, or dance piece (who knows)

Who can join:

  • Everyone who is interest in a process or in creating a body-based artistic practice;

  • Everyone with the migrant or relocated background (as well as without it);

  • Everyone with the relation to the topic of hatred

Format of a meeting:

We divide 3 hours into:

  • Providing a theoretical input on theories of hatred (from the areas of neurosciences, sociology, psychology, anthropology, artistic practice - by researchers/artists from this fields or by a selected text);

  • Practicing one of the practices from the documentation pool or introduced by a facilitator;

  • Taking time to create a personal practice for any participant;

  • Sharing practices one by one on a continuous group trip;

Result:

Together, we will find the form of the result of this process. It might be a communal practice, a workshop, a program, a performative piece - you name it.


Address
Emergency Project Room, Brunnenstrasse 43

Participation fee
free
facilitator
Vera Shchelkina
    • somatic practitioner and movement educator (graduating from the Somatic Academy in Berlin);

    • dance practitioner and facilitator of various contemporary dance programs for all types of audiences;

    • dance artist and choreographer, who co-created many dance and performance pieces, such as: "CO-TOUCH", "The Imposture Lab", "SMRTъ", "Vibrant matter", "Unplanting the seeds of hatred" etc.

    Currently I began my master's in choreography at HZT (Hochschule für Schauspielkunst "Ernst Busch").


program
meeting 1:
07.10
12:00 - 15:00
- Introducing the format and the topic;
- Practicing one of the practices from common archive;
- Creating your own practice;
- Sharing practices;
meeting 2:
28.10
12:00 - 15:00
- Input from an invited neuroscientist: neuroscience of hatred;
- Practicing one of the practices from common archive;
- Creating your own practice;
- Sharing practices;
meeting 3:
11.11
12:00 - 15:00
- Input from an invited artist;
- Practicing one of the practices from common archive;
- Creating your own practice;
- Sharing practices;
meeting 4:
25.11
12:00 - 15:00
- Input from an invited artist;
- Practicing one of the practices from common archive;
- Creating your own practice;
- Sharing practices;
meeting 5:
09.12
12:00 - 15:00
- Creating a work-in-progress for an Emergency Christmas Party;
meeting 6:
24.12
Emergency Christmas Party
Christmas
space
"Chto delat" Emergency Project Room
Brunnenstraße 43