[Performative Constituting a City]

[The Outer Line of Action]

This is the second part of the methodology PERFORMED CITY: ©Outer Line of Action=Performative Constituting the City/Community is performed by performers and participants in the real city space. It makes available the divers richness and resources of the participants and negotiate them according to the cultural values of democracy. 

A Initiale Blood Donation-Performance

The Inner Line of Action showed a lack of interaction between the city and Islamic community. It also became clear that there were no marriages between Muslim and Christian citizens in this city. This was confirmed by the registration office. Culture and social spaces remained, aside from a few events, segregated. The German Red Cross expresses her interest in a collaboration: So a initiale blood donation-performance the mosque was carried out 2013-05-13 at the local mosque with participants: the German Red Cross, students, and 89 blood donors. 70% of them Muslims, including the imam and representatives of foreign communities donated blood to the German blood pool. According to the Quran, it is beloved to Allah maintaining good relationships with blood relatives. ©mixed blood takes the first step toward a new, integrating blood kinship. Since then, blood donation events with strong community involvement have been held twice annually at the local mosque.

[Beyond the Blackboard]

Performative Intervention to Calm Emotions

At the only secondary school in a small town, emotions often run high, blocking peaceful coexistence. With 550 students from 32 nations, the school mirrors the town’s diversity. The headmistress seeks an environment where emotions can be calmed.

In the school hall, a table is set up, and students are introduced to artistic, performative methods of nonverbal communication through dialogue drawings. In a contemplative act of sitting face-to-face, a mental and emotional space for allowing arises. Experiences are drawn on the blackboard and collectively negotiated through visual dialogues. The chalk can be wiped away and the drawing corrected until all performers are satisfied with the result.

© Beyond the Blackboard was initially conceived for four weeks but was extended by six months at the students‘ request. Six of them formed a working group.

[Performed City]

A small town near Frankfurt (15,000 residents) is in a state of ongoing conflicts caused by significant cultural differences of migration. Patricia Ines Hoeppe developed a methodology to enable citizens to find independently a good position for themselves, in the city and within the entire society. To position oneself and to find one’s place seem to be the questions for good social togetherness. By settling and negotiating democratic values and by creating possibilities and actions the citizens are invited to create an expression of the own cultural participation to form their own cultural integration. 

The methodology of PERFORMED CITY works in 3 ACTS: 1. ACT: Inner Line of Action= Performative Positioning a City, addresses the issue in a performative manner. In the 2.ACT: Outer Line of Action= Performative Constituting a City settings and negotiations, initial solutions are proposed and established through the use of representatives. The 3. ACT: Public Line of Action= Citizen Happening is the public presentation of both the processes from the 1. and 2. Lines of Actions offers all citizens the opportunity for active participation in city-shaping processes. The Citizen Happening enables all residents to participate individually and actively in the constitution of a thriving social and cultural environment within their democratic city (cf. Performed City).