The event brings into view a transdisciplinary and transcultural perspective towards the notion of "intervention" by introducing Neue Nachbarschaft/Moabit - an ongoing socially-engaged project initiated by Marina Naprushkina in Berlin. With the project's focus on community work with people primarily from migrant and refugee backgrounds, the work underlines a transcultural aspect of "intervening", thus foregrounding the complexity of the geo-political processes and the current state of political affairs in the region.

The event will review the practice at the intersection of art and social realms, including participatory art forms such as service, activism, education, and community work. It will cover a series of critical questions related to the structural aspects of collaboration, social and ethical ways of engagement, and the roles of various stakeholders in non-vertical and
community-driven practices.

As part of the introduction to Moabit Neue Nachbarschaft, the participants of the event will be offered a simple, practical exercise developed by a resident artist/performer to promote public engagement through work with the body in space. The workshop is tailored to various audiences and ages. It intends to put theory and concepts into an embodied practice of presence with the community.

Programme:

Moderation: Lena Prents.

SPEAKERS:

Marina Naprushkina is a Belarussian artist who lives and works in Berlin, Germany. The artist concentrates on projects that work outside the white cube and have a social and political impact. In 2013, she established the initiative Neue Nachbarschaft/Moabit which began as her individual project but grew into one of the largest initiatives in Berlin, gathering
people with and without migrant and refugee background. Previously, Naprushkina founded the Office for Anti Propaganda (2007), which started as an archive on political propaganda and developed into a political platform. The Office collaborated with activists and cultural makers in supporting political campaigns and social projects, as well as publishing underground newspapers.

Maddi Fuente Ubani (she/her), based in Berlin, is a performer, creator and mentor from the Basque Country. She graduated as a contemporary professional dancer and audiovisual production technician for performances in Spain. Maddi focuses mainly on improvisation, instant composition and voice. She is engaged in her personal movement research from a woman's perspective. She has also participated in a variety of projects, including the 4th season of "Babylon Berlin",  with the collectives "Tanz den Widerstand" and Welcome Home, Fantastic feminist Futures, and performing for & with the artists: Ana Kavalis, Nelody Ahlroth, Areli Morán and Alexander Carrillo. Maddi offers improvisation / composition classes in Berlind and guides the movement group at neue Nachbarschaft, Moabit.

Lena Prents is a Minsk-born and Berlin-based art historian and curator. Having studied German philology in Minsk and art history in Berlin, she then worked for the Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin, the Bauhaus-Museum in Weimar, the Museum for Contemporary Art in Leipzig, and most recently in the Visual Arts Department of the Goethe-Institut e.V. The focus of her work as a curator and mediator is contemporary art and exhibition practice intertwined with socio-political discourses, art and culture in Eastern Europe during state socialism, and architectural history. Since December 2020 she is an artistic and managing director of the municipal Prater Gallery.