Third Research Workshop: "Process and Unfold: The Conditions We Produce", 6th & 7th of February 2026

This workshop deals with the working methods that are being developed in the performing arts. Can best practices be identified here? And considering those works of art that critically examine colonialism, extractivism, or other forms of exploitation/subjugation in their very own modus operandi: How do their methods deal specifically with the existing asymmetries between artists from underprivileged structures and European institutions? What is the potential of artistic research for the transformation of art institutions and infrastructures in this regard?
Ultimately, however, there is also the question for artists themselves: How do you work? And quite simply: Why do you engage in the kind of criticism of, for example, neocolonial structures that you do, in and with art? What possibilities does this offer, and where does it encounter contradictions in your work and production conditions?
With these questions, the workshop investigates two fields: a) the processuality of theater and performance and b) and the discursive authority of institutions. Together, both fields create a tension between the open experiment with materials on the one side and the framing of art via themes, focal points, definitions, or trends on the other.

Workshop with Martine Dennewald (Tio’tia:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal), Mark Fleishman (Cape Town), Ekaterina Trachsel (Giessen) and Sandra Umathum (Wien)

In Cooperation with Tanzhaus NRW and Forum Freies Theater Düsseldorf as well as the “We Are At Work” (Fonds Darstellende Künste and Bündnis Internationaler Produktionshäuser)

Start date: Friday, 6th of February 2026, 1.30pm

End date: Saturday, 7th of February 2026, 4pm

Venue: Tanzhaus NRW Düsseldorf and Forum Freies Theater Düsseldorf

Organization: Katharina Frölich, Leon Gabriel, Paul Umut Kahla, Balindile ka Ngcobo, Felipe dos Santos Boquimpani

The full program and further information will soon be announced under “Events”.