What are the alternatives to the existing systems of asylum? How can we challenge the division of people into “deserving” and “not deserving”? Which roads will we take to achieve freedom of movement around the world for everyone equally? What does it feel like to live in this new world? Where would you imagine yourself in it? In »Court Fantasies«, Salma and Miriam approach issues surrounding asylum with a critical mind and ear. They use imagination as a tool to shake rigid, seemingly unchangeable legal systems. They attempt to bridge between art and law, while following the fantastical work of activists that are already changing the future.
Salma and Miriam are hosting an evening of communal hearing and remembering. They move through space and time in alternating roles, accompanied by the sound body of musician Aram Abbas. Together with their team, they are inviting the audience to a collective listening to future archives:
Here we are, in 2099, and still, every person on Earth enjoys the right to freedom of movement. Tonight, an assembly takes place, in order to recall how we achieved this freedom and commemorate what we lost on the way. We want to thank you for the continuous energy in the last decades, and that we all were able to trust in these brave dreams. As we are now facing new threats, we gather to witness encounters, interviews, and hearings that help us to combine our forces for the coming resistance. We will be expecting you with love for archives and passion for fight – Yours, Salma and Miriam
Salma Said and Miriam Coretta Schulte are partners in crime, friendship and performance. Since 2018, the duo has developed an artistic practice in which the situative knowledge regarding their different backgrounds and contexts and their love for experimentation are paired with activism and imagination. Their first piece together »behind your eyeballs« was shown in 2023 as part of the »Introducing…« series at the Berlin Performing Arts Festival at Ballhaus Ost.
The performance is part of our guest performance series Berlin Basel Smash: from February 23 to March 9, we will be showing three pieces from the city on the Rhine at Ballhaus Ost. »Recycling of Life« by Antje Schupp | Ayman Nahle | Yanik Soland will be followed by »Court Fantasies« and »screening invisibilities« by Zino Wey.
