Being nowhere – Meet me in the third space!

Abstract

As inequality is increasing on both a global and local scale, we are living in times of heightened conflict and increasing segregation. Migration has become one of the most contested issues in many contemporary societies. As a consequence and as a manifestation of these developments, the numbers of refugees are increasing and the “refugee as the avant-garde” (Agamben 1995/ Arendt 1943) seems to be turning into a reality (again). Culture is a field in which many of these struggles are played out: the current debate on the restitution of stolen art from the African continent, representation in art and culture and the insight that knowledge is situated and therefore also needs to be de-colonized. Based on the reversal of anthropology (Diawara 2010/ Spivak 2010) and the demands for a “third space” (Bhaba 1994) in which “difference” can be lived and accepted while giving room for new commons in knowledge and culture, I will focus on the learning experiences from a project of social cultural work also touching upon media literacy, which was initiated with students of the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences and young unaccompanied refugees from evin e.V. and supported by the Institute for Youth, Film and TV Berlin Brandenburg JFF.