D02 DISSIDENT PATHS: WALKING TOGETHER AS A METHOD

Format: Walks, Installations, Performances, Screenings, Radio Rave, Reading Groups, Children’s Workshops, Panels-Lectures, Collective Meals, Publication

DISSIDENT PATHS approaches the act of walking as a curatorial space for expanding into the margins and creating shared urban experiences of resilience and hope. By addressing critical urban and social issues such as safety, migration, access, freedom of movement, collective resistance and rebellion as well as highlighting diasporic, queer and BIPOC experiences, it suggests moving together as an alternative experiential dimension to hierarchical systems engraved into the everyday.
It is a 2-year project initiated by ReRouting and Cruising Curators, as a collaborative model between two experienced initiatives that have been developing curatorial and participatory projects in Berlin. DISSIDENT PATHS is an attempt to expand on existing curatorial practices and foster further collaborations that bring together urban practitioners from Berlin and elsewhere. Through long-term investigations, the project will propose a new understanding of the potential of walking as an action with artistic and political implications. Proposed over two years; Year 1 is grounded in collective research, engaging with walking as a theme through different formats, and Year 2 uses walking as a space and mode of production, resulting in a final symposium and publication.

DISSIDENT PATHS is structured in six distinct formats employing open dialogue and active participation:
I. Paths is the primary method used as fuel for collective explorations through walking. Organised into six thematic chapters, this format encompasses public walks, performances, and screenings, while encouraging participants to interact with various urban sites of Berlin and rethink the routes they are taking in their everyday.
II. Meandering Meetings are research gatherings in the form of reading groups, presentations and reflection rounds. They provide space for exchange and community building and seek to open the curatorial research process to the public.
III. Picnic and Passeggiata are community meals organised to introduce the project to the public and encourage participation in the walks whilst sharing food and applying ecological cooking practices. IV. Walk Notations is a publication encapsulating multi-form traces gathered from the experiences and shared moments collected throughout the project.
V. Symposium is the final presentation that will gather the 2-year walking experience in the nGbK spaces as a series of discussions, lectures and sound performances, inviting guests to further elaborate on the themes that have emerged throughout the project. The end goal is to critically examine Berlin’s urban condition, reinterpret its routes through collective memory, overpowering structures, urban demographics, and address questions of sentimental borders and belonging.

Through diligence and care, DISSIDENT PATHS will facilitate activities for diverse audiences, reinforcing a sense of togetherness between individuals, districts and histories by way of walking, documenting and sharing. This is demonstrated in our concepts and budgeting, committed to ensuring sustainability and accessibility, aligning with nGbK’s ethos of inclusive programming.