Democracy does not only affect one age group – every citizen should have the opportunity to get involved in democratic processes and understand democracy on a deeper level.

The Forum Demokratie invited 24 students from different cultural and social backgrounds from four schools to confront topics like civil rights, democratic developments, and political participation. These themes were worked into the framework of the American civil rights movement. New friendships, excitement about voting for the first time, and new knowledge are the result of the successful three-day workshop.

The photo project 2022 Edited in the form of a book is the result of a partnership between the OKS (Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie) in Berlin and the ICP (International Center of Photography) in New York City. The Checkpoint Charlie Foundation made a partial contribution to the printing costs of the book.

“When the chocolate fell from the sky”

Berlin 1949. It’s Gerda’s brother’s birthday. But in times of blockade, a birthday cake is a big challenge. There are no eggs anywhere. The chickens in the bombed-out houses of the neighbors haven’t laid any for a long time. What to do? The theatergoers accompany Gerda on her way through post-war Berlin at the time of the airlift. A black marketeer finally offers her two eggs in exchange for chocolate. But where will the candy come from? Then the girl hears that chocolate bars are supposedly falling from the sky at Tempelhofer Feld. Can she believe it? At night, she meets an American pilot in a dream who busily builds little parachutes and hangs chocolate on them. They become friends. But was it all just a dream? Sometimes dreams come true…

The family theater event for wintertime at Tempelhofer Feld, with free admission!

“Als die Schokolade vom Himmel fiel” (When chocolate fell from the sky) tells its story with the means of figure and object theater.
object theater, combined with acting, singing and narration. The play is staged as
staged as a station theater. The audience walks from place to place. 50 people per performance.

Accompanied by adults for children ages 5 and up. Another 16 performances are planned for May 2023.

CCS supported Theater ANU with about 20% of the production costs.

Photo: Johannes Gärtner

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

With Wings and Roots is an initiative of media makers, educators, and cultural practitioners in the US and Europe. They work together to change the debates around migration and belonging through storytelling and critical history. They produce films, videos, critical migration history timelines, installations, and events. They offer workshops, curricula, and other educational materials.

Thanks to the Foundation’s support, the educational and exchange platform https://withwingsandroots.org/ has been restored to its dual-practice functionality and updated in terms of content and technology. The – partly invisible, but immensely important – changes and reprogramming now enable long-term and stable operation. This is important because the website is to be used again more intensively as a basis for (cross-language) webinars and training courses, for example, but also for social media and international exchange projects in the future.

At night, in a town somewhere in South Dakota, years after a devastating flood. Houses and streets have been rebuilt. We are in the Rapid Motel, room 115, someone is talking. Let’s call him*her AD. Extremely talkative, AD unpacks one story after another, offering entertainment. The mood changes when the monologue turns into a dialogue, the undertones of which don’t suit AD at all. Sometimes witty, sometimes analytical, he*she navigates around his*her own worldview.

Who is this AD? Is AD passing through? On vacation? Or one of those residents who have missed the new start, permanently staying in a motel because they don’t have the money for more? What we know: AD is waiting for a motel guest to return. And the longer the stay, the more the room develops a life of its own: it fills with images and sounds, times overlap, spaces blur.

In the interaction of acting, musical field recordings, documentary film sequences and deconstructed soundtracks, the American Dream peels itself off like an onion, exposing the confusion its promises generate.

Rapid Motel is like psychoanalysis, with the American Dream on the couch.

November 18, 2022 Leipzig, November 20, 2022 Berlin, January 20, 2023 Zurich

Photo: © MIRROR MAZE GbR

At night, in a town somewhere in South Dakota, years after a devastating flood. Houses and streets have been rebuilt. We are in the Rapid Motel, room 115, someone is talking. Let’s call him*her AD. Extremely talkative, AD unpacks one story after another, offering entertainment. The mood changes when the monologue turns into a dialogue, the undertones of which don’t suit AD at all. Sometimes witty, sometimes analytical, he*she navigates around his*her own worldview.

Who is this AD? Is AD passing through? On vacation? Or one of those residents who have missed the new start, permanently staying in a motel because they don’t have the money for more? What we know: AD is waiting for a motel guest to return. And the longer the stay, the more the room develops a life of its own: it fills with images and sounds, times overlap, spaces blur.

In the interaction of acting, musical field recordings, documentary film sequences and deconstructed soundtracks, the American Dream peels itself off like an onion, exposing the confusion its promises generate.

Rapid Motel is like psychoanalysis, with the American Dream on the couch.

November 18, 2022 Leipzig, November 20, 2022 Berlin, January 20, 2023 Zurich

Can digital and hybrid presentation revolutionize the future of art?

Over the past decade, technological innovations have regularly expanded aesthetics and modes of representation in art, communication, and discourse worldwide. The conference showed how and under what conditions artists* are using technological innovation to build strong, resilient narratives and find responses to advancing economic, climatic, and political crises. “Cyber Attack: Digital Art and Activism” brought together artists, curators, scholars, and producers from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and the United States to share their approaches to new art production, existing power structures, and new creative responses to pressing issues of our time.

The event was held in English with German, Ukrainian and Russian summaries and in international sign language.

Program: https://cyberattack.nordwind-festival.de/program/?lang=en

Part movement, part immersive dance, the ensemble piece “All things under dog, where two things are always true” explores notions of the mafia as a secular ecosystem. Along with the soundtrack by musician Aaron David Ross (ADR) with music by Eartheater, collaborating movement artists Reed Rushes, Kate Williams, Joy Norton, and Maxi Hawkeye Canion experiment with what occurs within both socially-coded systems and empathetic exchange.

Quelle/source: www.hebbel-am-ufer.de/creamcake

„… I am the German teacher at La Grange High School in La Grange, Texas. As part of our ongoing exchange with the Kaiserin Augusta Schule in Cologne through the German American Partnership Program (GAPP) we accompagnied a group of 8 high-school students to Germany from May 31 to June 24. La Grange, is a small town of 5,000 inhabitants. The trip to the German capital of 4 million was an eye-opening experience on various levels. Overall, the time in Berlin was a positive growth experience and one of the major highlights was making new friends at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Schule (FMBS), where we made presentations to two different 10^th grade classes. … We presented and answered questions during the first block. In the second block, we had them break into small groups for continued discussion on a more personal level. Some students even exchanged contact information. …”

Source: From the project report

„… In summary, with the extra funds provided by the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation, we were able to plan and execute an excursion to Berlin for four teenage boys, five teenage girls and two chaperones with a blend of activities that resulted in an unforgettable and extremely successful trip. … to point out exemplary three of the historic and meaningful spots during our nine-day visit: In conjunction with a visit at the Berlin Senate Department for Education, “Lernort Keibelstraße” gave the kids an opportunity to interact and have a discussion about life in the current city of Berlin, as well as gaining insight into the ways of life during the Cold War. The tour of a modern type of prison, with the opportunity to immerse themselves in a “feel” of a prison, will not likely be forgotten. … The East Side Gallery gave the kids an opportunity to not only view the Berlin Wall, but they asked many questions about what life was like in both East and West Germany. … and the visit of the Reichstag gave a lecture about the workings within the current German Parliament which demonstrated the similarities as well as differences between the workings of the German democracy and the more familiar concept of the American democratic system. …”