Safe Art Space
Our project Safe Art Space empowers newly arrived women from war and crisis zones living in Brandenburg.An initiative by WIR MACHEN DAS in cooperation with United Action Women and Girls e.V.
The aim of Safe Art Space is to empower the women to lead a self-determined life in Germany through participatory, diversity- and trauma-sensitive methods of cultural education and community-building activities. In cooperation with the organisation United Action Women and Girls, which is active in Brandenburg, the project creates a safe space in which the participants can help shape artistic and cultural activities. In doing so, they can expand their means of expression and strengthen their self-efficacy.
We are planning to launch the project in 2024 with two writing workshops in Rathenow in Brandenburg in September. The focus will be on participants who have fled to Germany from Arabic- and Persian-speaking countries. On 10 September, a cooking workshop will also be held in Rathenow for all newly arrived and interested women from the United Action Women and Girls e.V. network.
Through the artistic expression of writing, the women can process and express their feelings and experiences in the writing workshop. The professional, trauma-sensitive authors Dima Albitar Kalaji and Marie Bamyani guide and accompany them in the writing and decision-making process. The women do not need to have any academic or artistic writing experience to take part in the workshops. The writing workshops are held once in Arabic and once in Persian.
The „Cook & Talk“ workshop in the MIDNIMO Mobile Kitchen connects the women by planning, cooking, eating and talking together. The all-day workshop is led by Fatuma Musa Afrah and Rahel Volz. By bringing in their own cooking ideas and combining them with other cooking styles, a space is created that enables a community of solidarity to develop.
A note on the title of the Safe Art Space project: We are aware that there can be no completely safe spaces, as violations can occur or discrimination can be reproduced even in supposedly safe spaces. However, the aim of our work is always to create the safest possible spaces in which all participants can move, speak and exchange ideas freely.
The Safe Art Space project is an initiative of the Meet Your Neighbours project by WIR MACHEN DAS in cooperation with United Action Women and Girls e.V., funded by the Plattform Kulturelle Bildung Brandenburg with funds from the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of the State of Brandenburg.