becoming alman
Thirteen voices. One spotlight. Infinite perspectives.
Becoming Alman was a two-day performance and exhibition event exploring what it means to be a migrant in Germany - specifically through the lens of “the gaze.” Taking place at Oyoun in Berlin, the project invited 13 participants from diverse migrant backgrounds to devise a powerful, multi-layered response to the experience of being seen, judged, and othered.
​
The event featured visual artworks by Elif Çelik and jô osbórnia, a devised performance led by curator Lora Krasteva, and a public intervention in Hermannplatz. The result was a poetic, political, and deeply embodied critique of bureaucracy, language barriers, and ideals belonging. From silent street theatre to performative acts of staring back, the work asked: what is an “Alman” and who decides?
​
Audiences encountered the project through an interactive installation, a multilingual soundscape, and spoken word. The performance unfolded amongst the art works, surprising the audience with its urgency and vulnerability and ending with a moment of collective song and stillness. A post-show discussion offered space for reflection between artists and audiences.
​​
Credits;
Curated by Lora Krasteva, in collaboration with jô osbórnia, Elif Çelik & Jingyun Li
Produced by Claire Gilbert
With contributions by Eda Özkan, Ezzio Dante Debernardi Pizarro, Antonia Giesen, Sabir Maharramov, Fortuna Hernández, Mubaraka Farahmand, Shamayel Shalizi, Franco Fernando Toledo Flores, sondos shabayek, Murad Yuzbashov, Jota Ramos, Helga Elsner Torres
Produced by Claire Gilbert
With thanks to Beyza Yavuzradas, Aija, Harkiran Kelsi, Cafe Bulbul, Sunny and the interviewees who wished to remain anonymous.
​
You can hear more about the project in this podcast episode recorded for Oyoun during the Becoming Alman residency; https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/oyouniverse/becoming-alman-lora-krasteva-TZkEqXgMd5m/
​
About the venue; Oyoun is cultural centre in Berlin that sees itself as an inter- and anti-disciplinary platform for newly emerging approaches between and from the fields of fine arts, performance art, theatre, literature, dance, music, new media, socio-culture, education and much more.
​​​
About the artists
jô osbórnia
... is a poet, performer and translator. In her work, she‘s interested in questions of gender and colonialism. More specifically, she tries to reflect, from her position as a travestimigrant in europe, on poetic and performative languages that might be implied by an anti-colonial thought/attitude inside the metropolis. Her writing is mostly in Portuguese/Brazilian and German.
Jingyun Li
... studied Media Studies (Bachelor) with a minor in Chinese Languages and Literature at Fudan University (China), Duke University and the University of California, Santa Barbara (USA) as well as International Dramaturgy (Master) at the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands). After stints as a dramaturg at Opera Forward Festival 2019 at Dutch National Opera and Holland Festival, she came to Germany in 2019, where she interned at Komische Oper Berlin and jtw spandau. Her own projects thematically focus on sexuality, cultures, and languages, and are therefore interdisciplinary and multilingual. Li currently co-curates the international programme of Stadttheater Spandau GbR and works at APAL@AmnAsian and the Performing Arts Festival.
Elif Çelik
... was born in Ulm in 1997 and has been studying fine arts at the Stuttgart Art Academy since 2016. She is currently attending the class of Alisa Margolis. In her work she shows how extrinsic conditions of her social environment unbalance or manipulate the orientation process of her German-Turkish identity. As a Muslim woman, she tries to open a discourse with her painting. She wants to confront the viewers with the fact that she and other people in Germany are exposed to constant observation because they do not fit the norm of the majority society.
Becoming Alman was the third chapter of the wider European project Becoming […], exploring identity and belonging through locally-rooted, artist-led interventions.
​
These presentations were supported in 2022 by Perform Europe.
​
Becoming […] is available to concept tour internationally. If you are interested in hosting a Becoming […] residency, please contact producer Claire Gilbert producer@lorakrasteva.com