Thursday, 8 August
Opening Cabane B* with contributions by Shima Asa, Cheshmak Shahsiah, Kay Zhang and Stanford Chen, Andrea Thal, from 7pm
Performative activation by Cheshmak Shahsiah, 7:30pm
Listening + chanting by Kay Zhang and Stanford Chen, 8pm
Friday, 9 August
Opening Grand Palais with contributions by Alizé Rose-May Monod, Andrea Palášti, Aryakrishnan Ramakrishnan, Halim Ramses and Tali Serruya Gorzalczany, from 7pm
"Co-creation as a political laboratory", lecture performance by Tali Serruya Gorzalczany, 7:00pm
Performative activation by Aryakrishnan Ramakrishnan, 8:30pm
Thursday, 15 August
Printing workshop with Halim Ramses, 6:30pm
Finding our Feet collective discussion with Alizé Rose-May Monod, Andrea Palášti, Aryakrishnan Ramakrishnan, Halim Ramses, Tali Serruya Gorzalczany, Cheshmak Shahsiah, Kay Zhang and Andrea Thal, moderated by Shima Assa, 7:30pm
Opening hours exhibitions Cabane B* and Grand Palais
Thursdays 15 and 22 August, 6 - 9pm
Saturdays 10 and 17 August, 1 - 4pm
Cabane B*, Mühledorfstrasse 18, 3018 Bern
Train from Bern station to Bümpliz Nord (7 minutes)
Grand Palais, Thunstrasse 3, 3005 Bern
Tram 6, 7 or 8 from Bern station to Helvetiaplatz (5 minutes)
A year ago, in the early days of getting to know each other, we touched on trees, bodies, sounds, sketches, stories, paper flowers, amulats, and breath. We discovered that resilience is not just a survival mechanism but a dynamic force for transformation, an enduring mutation process—modalities to live in. Despite facing social, cultural, and epistemic challenges, we found common grounds and a shared source of strength.
We have remained connected as the earth has completed its 149.6 million km orbit. "Finding Our Feet: On Methodologies of Resilience" showcases in Cabane B* and Grand Palais the diverse ways we have situated, studied, and articulated resilience throughout our practices. In this exhibition and its accompanying public events, we reflect on our experiences and share the methodologies we have developed for confronting challenges and fostering growth.
We invite you to explore our work and consider the various forms of resilience, transformation, and persistence that might inspire you to find your own footing.
///////// TRANSLATIONS //////////
[Français]
Au début de notre rencontre il y a une année, nous avons touché les arbres, effleuré les corps, les sons, les croquis, les histoires, les fleurs en papier, les amulettes et la respiration. Nous avons découvert que la résilience n'est pas seulement un mécanisme de survie, mais une force dynamique de transformation, un processus de changement durable – des modalités de vie. Malgré les défis sociaux, culturels et épistémiques auxquels nous avons été confrontés, nous avons trouvé un terrain commun et une source de soutien et de régénération partagée.
Nous avons alimenté ce lien durant l’orbite de 149,6 millions de km que la Terre a désormais achevé. « Finding Our Feet : On Methodologies of Resilience » (1) présente à Cabane B* et Grand Palais les différentes façons dont nous avons situé, étudié et articulé la résilience dans nos pratiques. Au cours de cette exposition et des évènements publiques qui l'accompagnent, nous revenons sur nos expériences et partageons les méthodologies développées pour faire face aux défis et nous encourager à grandir. Nous vous invitons à explorer notre travail et à considérer les différentes formes de résilience, de transformation et de persévérance qui, peut-être, vous inspireront à trouver vos propres repères.
(1) «Trouver nos repères: méthodologies de résilience»
[Deutsch]
Vor einem Jahr, als wir uns kennenlernten, berührten wir Bäume, Körper, Geräusche, Skizzen, Geschichten, Papierblumen, Amulette und den Atem. Wir haben herausgefunden, dass Resilienz nicht nur ein Überlebensmechanismus ist, sondern eine dynamische Kraft der Transformation, ein Prozess nachhaltiger Veränderung, der mögliche Lebensmodalitäten eröffnet. Trotz der sozialen, kulturellen und epistemischen Herausforderungen denen wir ausgesetzt sind haben wir eine gemeinsame Basis und eine Quelle gemeinschaftlicher Regeneration und Unterstützung gefunden.
Wir sind verbunden geblieben, während die Erde ihre 149,6 Millionen Kilometer lange Umlaufbahn vollendet hat. «Finding Our Feet: On Methodologies of Resilience» (1) präsentiert in der Cabane B* und im Grand Palais die verschiedenen Herangehensweisen, in denen wir Resilienz situiert, recherchiert und artikuliert haben. In der Ausstellung und den öffentlichen Veranstaltungen reflektieren wir unsere Erfahrungen und teilen die Methodologien, die wir gefunden haben, um Herausforderungen zu begegnen und daran zu wachsen. Wir laden ein, unsere Arbeit zu erkunden und über die verschiedenen Formen von Resilienz, Transformation und Beharrlichkeit nachzudenken, die Sie vielleicht dazu inspirieren können, die eigene Orientierung zu finden.
(1) «Fuss fassen: Methodologien der Resilienz»
[Español]
Cuando nos conocimos hace un año, tocamos árboles, rozamos cuerpos, sonidos, bocetos, historias, flores de papel, amuletos y respiraciones. Descubrimos que la resiliencia no es sólo un mecanismo de supervivencia, sino una fuerza dinámica de transformación, un proceso de cambio sostenible – maneras de vivir. A pesar de los desafíos sociales, culturales y epistémicos a los que nos enfrentamos, encontramos un terreno común y una fuente compartida de apoyo y regeneración.
Hemos alimentado este vínculo durante la órbita de 149,6 millones de km que la Tierra ha completado ahora. «Encontrando nuestros pies: sobre metodologías de resiliencia» (1) en Cabane B* y Grand Palais presenta las diferentes formas en que hemos localizado, estudiado y articulado la resiliencia en nuestras prácticas. En esta exposición y en los actos públicos que la acompañan, recordamos nuestras experiencias y compartimos las metodologías que hemos desarrollado para afrontar los retos y animarnos a crecer. Le invitamos a explorar nuestro trabajo y a considerar las distintas formas de resiliencia, transformación y perseverancia que pueden inspirarle a encontrar su propio rumbo.
(1) «Cómo orientarnos: metodologías de resiliencia».
We are looking forward to seeing you in August in Bern!
The Sommerakademie Paul Klee 2024 is generously supported by Pro Helvetia, Südkulturfonds, Burgergemeinde Bern and private donors. The institutional partner of the SPK is the Bern Academy of the Arts HKB.
The first meeting of the eight Residents 2023/24 and Andrea Thal took place in Bern from 12–19 August 2023.
On the first two days, the Residents shared their practice with the group.
Based on the 8 days' focus on methodologies, the Residents were invited to choose the format of their presentations according to the specific content and local context of their practice. Thus the first two days consisted of group exercises, small workshops, rituals and body work through which the Residents invited the group to be part of their practice through practical and participatory engagement.
The presentations echoed further in meetings and exchanges with different collectives active in Bern such as CABANE B*, RaAupe, Advokatur 4A, and Kabelo Malatsie / Kunsthalle Bern. In these meetings we learned more about their practices and discussed shared economies, community based production, care labour, and their methodologies for disrupting or challenging conservative, capitalist, legal and racist frameworks.
The group also took part in a “social city walk” with Roger of the NGO SURPRISE, who are active in Bern, Basel and Zurich. Roger offered the Residents a different view of Bern and its inhabitants based on his experience of homelessness, poverty and social exclusion.
Around the middle of the 8 days gathering we found reflection, respite and useful tools for self-care and working with groups of people in somatic workshops with Care, a trauma-informed care practitioner, artist & doula who works on re-membering embodied experiences.
On Friday, 18 August 2023, our group traveled to Zurich to meet the teams of Les Complices*, Experi Theater / Blackbox and Trans Safety Emergency Fund. Similar to the meetings in Bern, these encounters gave the group an insight into the specificity of their practice and the care politics, obstacles and positionalities that shape their work in the local context.
The Sommerakademie session was concluded with the closing event on the last day of the programme, in the public park behind Kunsthalle Bern. On this occasion the Residents shared their personal reflections on the week with the public and stayed on for more informal conversations in the park over food, drinks and music.
Please click here to see some photos of the gathering in August 2023.
The Sommerakademie Paul Klee 2023 will take place in Bern 12–19 August 2023!
We would like to invite you to our public closing event on Saturday, 19 August 2023 at 18:00 in the public park behind Kunsthalle Bern (Helvetiaplatz 1, 3005 Bern). Please join us to hear about our week, talk, eat, drink and dance with us!
Heightened economic, political and social tensions are felt across the globe, though in a different magnitude from one context to another. This recurring fragility and crisis make it more necessary than ever to form strong bonds with others, to situate oneself in and act from a sense of community. At the same time, the awareness for the complexities of care and for the highly sensitive methodologies required to create meaningful ways of being with others has grown significantly in recent years.
What ways of being with others, in work or otherwise, are practised in situations of crisis and conflict or come out of anti-racist, non-binary or queer feminist groups, historically and in the present? What questions and demands do they pose to the economic, aesthetic and institutional structures around us? How do we negotiate the need to decentre the individual and remain attentive to multi-layered positionalities and aware of forms of exclusion or discrimination? How can we be more careful with our resources and give more space to pleasure, experimentation and mutual support?
The 2023/24 cycle of the SPK wishes to bring together a group of residents who have experience in working with others in modes of crisis or struggle in cultural, activist or education contexts. To find our feet means to grow more confident in a new or shifting situation, to grow familiar with the ground we are standing on and from where we act. Finding our feet will dedicate time to detailed research of methodologies and economies of collective working practices, the reflection and awareness tools that grow out of groups whose practices imagine different forms of relating to each other, as well as artistic and experimental ways of making art together. Based on the awareness that such practices are always highly specific to their contexts, the programme hopes to build its field of resonance together with the residents and based on their questions. In light of this, the programme proposes a loose structure with room for decisions to be taken in the group and is able to accommodate shifts in its focus and direction.
Finding our feet is an educational format that tries to create a space for sharing and engagement with each other's practices through two gatherings taking place in the summer of 2023 and 2024, and sporadically online. The programme is a respite of sorts, a time to reflect and find inspiration and accomplices across time and space. Taking part in the programme requires the openness and the generosity to listen to and learn from each other and to build spaces for sharing within the group and at times beyond it. The 2023/24 cycle hopes to bring together a group of residents who see themselves being part of such a process and who can imagine that the exchange and the reflections could make a modest contribution to the resilience of the collective structures they are part of. A strong belief in the powerful transformative tool of education is the basis of the programme and from where it tries to imagine alternative artistic, social or political relations. Beyond sharing through words, the gatherings can include practices such as printmaking, movement/dance, listening, cooking etc.
The 2023/24 cycle hopes to connect to practices and reflections developed by the last edition of SPK dedicated to imagining a feminist institution and to how inclusive feminist perspectives shape different ways of relating to the world in economic, cultural, sociological and aesthetic terms. It also acknowledges and wishes to connect to local initiatives and communities in Bern who work on related questions and to students and people working at the academy.
Photo: Ahmed Hany, from the series I see you in my memory, 2020, showing overlayed images of printing sessions during Temporary Gathering and Cairo street scenes.
Timeline
– The first meeting in Bern will take place from 12 – 19 August 2023.
– The second meeting in Bern is planned for mid-August 2024.
– Between summer 2023 and late 2024 the group will sporadically meet online.
– In spring or autumn 2024, for periods of up to five days, residents will have access to HKB infrastructure and technical support. During that time, they will also conduct workshops or studio visits with HKB students, remunerated at the standard local rates.
Andrea Thal is a cultural worker. Her engagement with social and political issues is frequently situated within a collaborative practice. From 2007 until 2014 she ran Les Complices, a self-organised space in Zurich. In 2011, she curated Chewing the Scenery, part of the Swiss participation in the 45th Venice Biennale. She has been an active member of Another Roadmap Africa Cluster (ARAC) since its foundation in 2015. Since 2014, Andrea Thal has been the artistic director of Contemporary Image Collective in Cairo, Egypt.
Thursday, 8 August
Opening Cabane B* with contributions by Shima Asa, Cheshmak Shahsiah, Kay Zhang and Stanford Chen, Andrea Thal, from 7pm
Performative activation by Cheshmak Shahsiah, 7:30pm
Listening + chanting by Kay Zhang and Stanford Chen, 8pm
Friday, 9 August
Opening Grand Palais with contributions by Alizé Rose-May Monod, Andrea Palášti, Aryakrishnan Ramakrishnan, Halim Ramses and Tali Serruya Gorzalczany, from 7pm
"Co-creation as a political laboratory", lecture performance by Tali Serruya Gorzalczany, 7:00pm
Performative activation by Aryakrishnan Ramakrishnan, 8:30pm
Thursday, 15 August
Printing workshop with Halim Ramses, 6:30pm
Finding our Feet collective discussion with Alizé Rose-May Monod, Andrea Palášti, Aryakrishnan Ramakrishnan, Halim Ramses, Tali Serruya Gorzalczany, Cheshmak Shahsiah, Kay Zhang and Andrea Thal, moderated by Shima Assa, 7:30pm
Opening hours exhibitions Cabane B* and Grand Palais
Thursdays 15 and 22 August, 6 - 9pm
Saturdays 10 and 17 August, 1 - 4pm
Cabane B*, Mühledorfstrasse 18, 3018 Bern
Train from Bern station to Bümpliz Nord (7 minutes)
Grand Palais, Thunstrasse 3, 3005 Bern
Tram 6, 7 or 8 from Bern station to Helvetiaplatz (5 minutes)
A year ago, in the early days of getting to know each other, we touched on trees, bodies, sounds, sketches, stories, paper flowers, amulats, and breath. We discovered that resilience is not just a survival mechanism but a dynamic force for transformation, an enduring mutation process—modalities to live in. Despite facing social, cultural, and epistemic challenges, we found common grounds and a shared source of strength.
We have remained connected as the earth has completed its 149.6 million km orbit. "Finding Our Feet: On Methodologies of Resilience" showcases in Cabane B* and Grand Palais the diverse ways we have situated, studied, and articulated resilience throughout our practices. In this exhibition and its accompanying public events, we reflect on our experiences and share the methodologies we have developed for confronting challenges and fostering growth.
We invite you to explore our work and consider the various forms of resilience, transformation, and persistence that might inspire you to find your own footing.
///////// TRANSLATIONS //////////
[Français]
Au début de notre rencontre il y a une année, nous avons touché les arbres, effleuré les corps, les sons, les croquis, les histoires, les fleurs en papier, les amulettes et la respiration. Nous avons découvert que la résilience n'est pas seulement un mécanisme de survie, mais une force dynamique de transformation, un processus de changement durable – des modalités de vie. Malgré les défis sociaux, culturels et épistémiques auxquels nous avons été confrontés, nous avons trouvé un terrain commun et une source de soutien et de régénération partagée.
Nous avons alimenté ce lien durant l’orbite de 149,6 millions de km que la Terre a désormais achevé. « Finding Our Feet : On Methodologies of Resilience » (1) présente à Cabane B* et Grand Palais les différentes façons dont nous avons situé, étudié et articulé la résilience dans nos pratiques. Au cours de cette exposition et des évènements publiques qui l'accompagnent, nous revenons sur nos expériences et partageons les méthodologies développées pour faire face aux défis et nous encourager à grandir. Nous vous invitons à explorer notre travail et à considérer les différentes formes de résilience, de transformation et de persévérance qui, peut-être, vous inspireront à trouver vos propres repères.
(1) «Trouver nos repères: méthodologies de résilience»
[Deutsch]
Vor einem Jahr, als wir uns kennenlernten, berührten wir Bäume, Körper, Geräusche, Skizzen, Geschichten, Papierblumen, Amulette und den Atem. Wir haben herausgefunden, dass Resilienz nicht nur ein Überlebensmechanismus ist, sondern eine dynamische Kraft der Transformation, ein Prozess nachhaltiger Veränderung, der mögliche Lebensmodalitäten eröffnet. Trotz der sozialen, kulturellen und epistemischen Herausforderungen denen wir ausgesetzt sind haben wir eine gemeinsame Basis und eine Quelle gemeinschaftlicher Regeneration und Unterstützung gefunden.
Wir sind verbunden geblieben, während die Erde ihre 149,6 Millionen Kilometer lange Umlaufbahn vollendet hat. «Finding Our Feet: On Methodologies of Resilience» (1) präsentiert in der Cabane B* und im Grand Palais die verschiedenen Herangehensweisen, in denen wir Resilienz situiert, recherchiert und artikuliert haben. In der Ausstellung und den öffentlichen Veranstaltungen reflektieren wir unsere Erfahrungen und teilen die Methodologien, die wir gefunden haben, um Herausforderungen zu begegnen und daran zu wachsen. Wir laden ein, unsere Arbeit zu erkunden und über die verschiedenen Formen von Resilienz, Transformation und Beharrlichkeit nachzudenken, die Sie vielleicht dazu inspirieren können, die eigene Orientierung zu finden.
(1) «Fuss fassen: Methodologien der Resilienz»
[Español]
Cuando nos conocimos hace un año, tocamos árboles, rozamos cuerpos, sonidos, bocetos, historias, flores de papel, amuletos y respiraciones. Descubrimos que la resiliencia no es sólo un mecanismo de supervivencia, sino una fuerza dinámica de transformación, un proceso de cambio sostenible – maneras de vivir. A pesar de los desafíos sociales, culturales y epistémicos a los que nos enfrentamos, encontramos un terreno común y una fuente compartida de apoyo y regeneración.
Hemos alimentado este vínculo durante la órbita de 149,6 millones de km que la Tierra ha completado ahora. «Encontrando nuestros pies: sobre metodologías de resiliencia» (1) en Cabane B* y Grand Palais presenta las diferentes formas en que hemos localizado, estudiado y articulado la resiliencia en nuestras prácticas. En esta exposición y en los actos públicos que la acompañan, recordamos nuestras experiencias y compartimos las metodologías que hemos desarrollado para afrontar los retos y animarnos a crecer. Le invitamos a explorar nuestro trabajo y a considerar las distintas formas de resiliencia, transformación y perseverancia que pueden inspirarle a encontrar su propio rumbo.
(1) «Cómo orientarnos: metodologías de resiliencia».
We are looking forward to seeing you in August in Bern!
The Sommerakademie Paul Klee 2024 is generously supported by Pro Helvetia, Südkulturfonds, Burgergemeinde Bern and private donors. The institutional partner of the SPK is the Bern Academy of the Arts HKB.
The first meeting of the eight Residents 2023/24 and Andrea Thal took place in Bern from 12–19 August 2023.
On the first two days, the Residents shared their practice with the group.
Based on the 8 days' focus on methodologies, the Residents were invited to choose the format of their presentations according to the specific content and local context of their practice. Thus the first two days consisted of group exercises, small workshops, rituals and body work through which the Residents invited the group to be part of their practice through practical and participatory engagement.
The presentations echoed further in meetings and exchanges with different collectives active in Bern such as CABANE B*, RaAupe, Advokatur 4A, and Kabelo Malatsie / Kunsthalle Bern. In these meetings we learned more about their practices and discussed shared economies, community based production, care labour, and their methodologies for disrupting or challenging conservative, capitalist, legal and racist frameworks.
The group also took part in a “social city walk” with Roger of the NGO SURPRISE, who are active in Bern, Basel and Zurich. Roger offered the Residents a different view of Bern and its inhabitants based on his experience of homelessness, poverty and social exclusion.
Around the middle of the 8 days gathering we found reflection, respite and useful tools for self-care and working with groups of people in somatic workshops with Care, a trauma-informed care practitioner, artist & doula who works on re-membering embodied experiences.
On Friday, 18 August 2023, our group traveled to Zurich to meet the teams of Les Complices*, Experi Theater / Blackbox and Trans Safety Emergency Fund. Similar to the meetings in Bern, these encounters gave the group an insight into the specificity of their practice and the care politics, obstacles and positionalities that shape their work in the local context.
The Sommerakademie session was concluded with the closing event on the last day of the programme, in the public park behind Kunsthalle Bern. On this occasion the Residents shared their personal reflections on the week with the public and stayed on for more informal conversations in the park over food, drinks and music.
Please click here to see some photos of the gathering in August 2023.
The Sommerakademie Paul Klee 2023 will take place in Bern 12–19 August 2023!
We would like to invite you to our public closing event on Saturday, 19 August 2023 at 18:00 in the public park behind Kunsthalle Bern (Helvetiaplatz 1, 3005 Bern). Please join us to hear about our week, talk, eat, drink and dance with us!
Heightened economic, political and social tensions are felt across the globe, though in a different magnitude from one context to another. This recurring fragility and crisis make it more necessary than ever to form strong bonds with others, to situate oneself in and act from a sense of community. At the same time, the awareness for the complexities of care and for the highly sensitive methodologies required to create meaningful ways of being with others has grown significantly in recent years.
What ways of being with others, in work or otherwise, are practised in situations of crisis and conflict or come out of anti-racist, non-binary or queer feminist groups, historically and in the present? What questions and demands do they pose to the economic, aesthetic and institutional structures around us? How do we negotiate the need to decentre the individual and remain attentive to multi-layered positionalities and aware of forms of exclusion or discrimination? How can we be more careful with our resources and give more space to pleasure, experimentation and mutual support?
The 2023/24 cycle of the SPK wishes to bring together a group of residents who have experience in working with others in modes of crisis or struggle in cultural, activist or education contexts. To find our feet means to grow more confident in a new or shifting situation, to grow familiar with the ground we are standing on and from where we act. Finding our feet will dedicate time to detailed research of methodologies and economies of collective working practices, the reflection and awareness tools that grow out of groups whose practices imagine different forms of relating to each other, as well as artistic and experimental ways of making art together. Based on the awareness that such practices are always highly specific to their contexts, the programme hopes to build its field of resonance together with the residents and based on their questions. In light of this, the programme proposes a loose structure with room for decisions to be taken in the group and is able to accommodate shifts in its focus and direction.
Finding our feet is an educational format that tries to create a space for sharing and engagement with each other's practices through two gatherings taking place in the summer of 2023 and 2024, and sporadically online. The programme is a respite of sorts, a time to reflect and find inspiration and accomplices across time and space. Taking part in the programme requires the openness and the generosity to listen to and learn from each other and to build spaces for sharing within the group and at times beyond it. The 2023/24 cycle hopes to bring together a group of residents who see themselves being part of such a process and who can imagine that the exchange and the reflections could make a modest contribution to the resilience of the collective structures they are part of. A strong belief in the powerful transformative tool of education is the basis of the programme and from where it tries to imagine alternative artistic, social or political relations. Beyond sharing through words, the gatherings can include practices such as printmaking, movement/dance, listening, cooking etc.
The 2023/24 cycle hopes to connect to practices and reflections developed by the last edition of SPK dedicated to imagining a feminist institution and to how inclusive feminist perspectives shape different ways of relating to the world in economic, cultural, sociological and aesthetic terms. It also acknowledges and wishes to connect to local initiatives and communities in Bern who work on related questions and to students and people working at the academy.
Photo: Ahmed Hany, from the series I see you in my memory, 2020, showing overlayed images of printing sessions during Temporary Gathering and Cairo street scenes.
Timeline
– The first meeting in Bern will take place from 12 – 19 August 2023.
– The second meeting in Bern is planned for mid-August 2024.
– Between summer 2023 and late 2024 the group will sporadically meet online.
– In spring or autumn 2024, for periods of up to five days, residents will have access to HKB infrastructure and technical support. During that time, they will also conduct workshops or studio visits with HKB students, remunerated at the standard local rates.
Andrea Thal is a cultural worker. Her engagement with social and political issues is frequently situated within a collaborative practice. From 2007 until 2014 she ran Les Complices, a self-organised space in Zurich. In 2011, she curated Chewing the Scenery, part of the Swiss participation in the 45th Venice Biennale. She has been an active member of Another Roadmap Africa Cluster (ARAC) since its foundation in 2015. Since 2014, Andrea Thal has been the artistic director of Contemporary Image Collective in Cairo, Egypt.
