Beyond Belonging

The festival Beyond Belonging has featured performances based on the issue of migration since 2007. The third annual festival in 2009 focused specifically on immigrants in Istanbul and Berlin. In these cities immigrants experience "difference" on a daily basis. The creative scene in these cities often comes in direct contact with issues and personal stories that are shaped by the clash of cultures and experience. Or the artists have personally experienced such cultural differences themselves. The Istanbul-born dancer and choreographer Maral Ceranoglu directed a performance titled "The Ugly Duckling" in which three women, a Kurd, a lesbian and Muslim spoke out about the various prejudices they have encountered in Turkish society. Another example was a piece by the German-born Turkish director Neco Celik from Berlin-Kreuzberg, who tells the story of the double life of Turkish men who have families in both Berlin and Istanbul. The text by Feridun Zaimoglu and Günter Senkel is based on empirical research.
For the first time in 2009, the festival Beyond Belonging took place in cooperation with the Theater Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) and the performance venue Ballhaus Naunynstraße, which re-opened in 2008.

Artistic directors: Shermin Langhoff, Matthias Lilienthal
Participants: Nurkan Erpulat, Feridun Zaimoglu, Maral Ceranoglu (TR), Dries Verhoeven (NL), Odan Projesi (TR), Neco Celik, Tuncay Kulaoglu (TR), Alper Maral (TR), Ayse Polat (TR), Idil Üner, Murat Daltaban (TR) and others

Venues and schedule:
Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin: 1-15 Nov. 2009
Ballhaus Naunynstraße, Berlin: 1-15 Nov. 2009