Past Projects (2021-22)

The Art of Conflict and Restorative Dialogues: Where Choreography and Conflict Resolution Meet

If you had asked us a year ago “What does conflict resolution have to do with new ways of touring?”, we probably would have said “Nothing”. Fast forward to now, The Art of Conflict and Restorative Dialogues has changed our minds. Bringing together a collective of artists, two internationally renowned festivals, and a non-governmental organisation working in the field of restorative justice, this partnership is kicking off the Perform Europe Live programme of 2022.

A geographically balanced partnership, The Art of Conflict and Restorative Dialogues consists of the MichaelDouglas Kollektiv (Germany), the Bucharest Fringe Festival (Romania), the Malta Festival Poznań (Poland), and EFRJ – European Forum for Restorative Justice (Belgium/Italy).

What makes this partnership unique is that it steps away from the “parachute model” of presenting performance art works. Instead, it invites local communities to continuously create, collaborate, and participate by sharing inclusivity practices and restorative skills through the artistic work as well as workshops and masterclasses.

This partnership wants to reimagine public space as a platform for interaction and participation to create opportunities to share newer and more diverse narratives of the social ecology. It innovates traditional touring models by recreating the artistic work on location and involving a lot of people in the process: an audience of artists, restorative justice professionals and wider citizens participates in a public dialogue around the wisdom of conflict (within oneself and with others) as an opportunity for community building.

Partners

EFRJ - European Forum for Restorative Justice

Belgium

MDK - Michael Douglas Kollektiv

Artistic Works

The Polarity Party

Producers: MDK – MichaelDouglas Kollektiv, Germany

“The Polarity Party” is an immersive, participative event on polarisation, created by the MichaelDouglas Kollektiv, in collaboration with conflict specialist Dana Caspersen (USA). The artistic work supports community reflections on harm and injustice in different areas, such as justice, education, peacebuilding, families, organisations, schools, communities. The public event uses movement, senses, and dialogue to enable a process of collective thinking on polarisation and other challenges which are key in our societies. Large groups of participants (max 120) will step into a field of action where choreography and conflict engagement meet. This event is shaped by collective creative processes, in line with other practices, such as restorative justice, meant to create more just, safe, and connected societies. This partnership also opens up possibilities to engage a wider audience in addition to the festival participants by having access to ERFJ’s local venue network of universities, schools, cultural centers, prisons, and public squares. The four partners are sharing time and their different yet complementary knowledge in the fields of participative performance arts, social change, creating sustainable and safe spaces for artists and audiences, international events management and cooperation, research, and networks to ensure that the collaboration continues beyond Perform Europe. The sustainability of the partnership has also been infused with planned events beyond Perform Europe in Autumn 2022 when they will promote their short film and hold virtual public discussions about the project and future cooperation.

Photo credits

The Polarity Party