Diverse People Remember is an international long-term community project that aims to share approaches to trauma & reconciliation through storytelling and the arts.
Diverse People Remember wishes to plant the seed of reconciliation on an international scale by starting a dialogue about the effects of trauma and enabling historical re-visitation for a more prosperous and democratic future. Within communities itself a dialogue about different life experiences will be enhanced through storytelling and arts therapies. Afterwards a connection with other communities in South Africa and abroad is crucial for the project to share stories and experiences as knowing ourselves and others supports self-agency and later reconciliation and democratic transformation.
As Diverse People Remember engages different communities and their people through sharing life stories, memories and trauma counselling it is able to share the understanding that our past informs our future and that wounds cannot be healed through silence.

14.02.2020

We invite you to three special events to meet and celebrate an extraordinarily courageous man:

Solomon "Sally" Perel was born in Peine, Germany in 1925 to a German Jewish family. He escaped persecution by the Nazis by masquerading as a non-Jewish German. Loosely based on his autobiography 'Ich war Hitlerjunge Salomon (I was Hitler Youth Salomon)', his life story is told in the 1990 Film "Europa, Europa" which was awarded the Golden Globe for best Foreign Language Film, and was nominated for an Academy Award (Oscar) for best screenplay in 1992.

We invite you to three special events to meet and celebrate an extraordinarily courageous man:

Event at the Apartheid Museum
Saturday, 15th of February 2020 at 3 pm
Light Perspectives for Humanity (UN world interfaith harmony week)
Conversation with Sally Perel, Ferial Haffajee, Ayhaan Cetin, Sizwe Mpofu and Roy Gluckman
a collaboration with USPP
 
Event at Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre
Sunday, 16th of February at 3 pm
In Conversation with Holocaust Survivor Sally Perel
A unique opportunity to ask a survivor about his acclaimed memoirs and personal experiences
 
Event at Goethe Institut
Wednesday 19th of February at 7 pm
Film Screening of Europa, Europa
Running Time: 1h53
Q & A with Sally Perel after the film screening
This event will be held at the Goethe-Institut, 119 Jan Smuts Ave, Parkwood

We are very happy that the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre and the Goethe Institut are partners of this very special visit.

04.06.2019

21 students of the Santa Rita Gaga Senior School in Rwihamba in West Uganda.
They will share their family research with students of the Walle Schulzentrum in Bremen/Germany.

21 students from the 8th to 10th grade of the Santa Rita Gaga Senior School in Rwihamba in West Uganda are the first to be part of the Diverse People Remember project. Workshop facilitator and our organizer on-site is Rayka Kobiella. 

To ask the elders any questions is something beyond Ugandan tradition and not part of daily life and all participanting students are very excited to see the outcome of their family research in the next weeks before they will present their results and do the creative writing workshops. 

On Wednesday, the 12th June there will be the first skype conference with their fellows from Bremen in Germany.

22.05.2019

Seit März 2019 ist das Literaturhaus Bremen Partner im Pilotprojekt der Sylt Foundation: Im März/April des Jahres führte es im Bremer Schulzentrum Walle mit DeutschschülerInnen der Oberstufe drei Workshops zu dem internationalen Erzählprojekt Diverse People Remember durch.

Erzählen ist ein kritisches Instrument menschlicher Handlungsmacht und es gibt enorme Mengen an Literatur zu den verheerenden Auswirkungen des (Ver-) Schweigens. Das Projekt Diverse People Remember beabsichtigt, den TeilnehmerInnen eine Handlungsmacht zurückzugeben, die nach dem künstlerischen Prozess einen Dialog mit anderen Gemeinschaften ermöglicht. Ziel ist es, ein „Archiv von geteilten Leben“ aufzubauen und die schwierigen Altlasten der Vergangenheit miteinander zu teilen. Dazu werden SchülerInnen aufgefordert, die Geschichte ihrer Großeltern/ Eltern zu erzählen und in eigenen Texten zu sammeln.

Nur sieben der 28 teilnehmenden Jugendlichen des Schulzentrums Walle haben keinen Migrationshintergrund. Die Herkunftsländer der Familien, aus denen die SchülerInnen stammen, sind neben der Türkei der Kosovo, Kolumbien, Frankreich, Marokko und der Libanon.

Artur Becker mit SchülerInnen am Bremer Schulzentrum Walle bei den vom Literaturhaus Bremen geleiteten Workshops.

Mit Unterstützung des deutsch-polnischen Schriftstellers Artur Becker wurden die jungen Menschen angeregt, über die Geschichte und Vergangenheit ihrer Familien zu schreiben. Ihm war wichtig, lediglich die Orthografie und die sprachlich-stilistischen Mittel der Schüler und Schülerinnen zu kommentieren, nicht den Inhalt. Artur Becker zeigte großen Respekt vor dem in den Texten Offenbarten und bezeichnete das Geschriebene als „Geschenk, das ihn ideologisch und intellektuell weitergebracht“ habe. Die Authentizität, mit der die Jugendlichen die Geschichten erzählten, erweckte auch bei den LeserInnen Emotionen wie Trauer, Mitleid und Freude. Artur Becker war begeistert von den Texten: man hätte die eigenen Geschichten auch kaschieren können, umso dankbarer war er für die Ehrlichkeit. Die Herkunftsgeschichten sind geprägt von Themen wie Liebe, Hoffnung, Dankbarkeit, aber sie handeln auch von Krankheiten, Trauer und Tod. Für Artur Becker war die Zusammenarbeit mit den Jugendlichen und die Lektüre ihrer Texte auch aus der soziologischen Perspektve spannend. Im Laufe der letzten Jahrzehnte habe sich der Umgang mit Interkulturalität und Identitätsfragen sehr verändert. Er selbst stammt ursprünglich aus Polen und berichtete, dass zu seiner Zeit kaum darüber gesprochen wurde, wenn man multinational aufgewachsen war und dass das Bekenntnis dazu keineswegs einfach gewesen ist.

Als Nächstes ist für die Jugendlichen per Skype ein Austausch auf Englisch mit Jugendlichen aus einem Partnerprogramm in Johannesburg/Südafrika geplant.

Mehr zum Projekt des Literaturhaus Bremen am Schulzentrum Walle hier.

Die Texte:
Der Weg nach Deuschland Selin Karaca (please scroll down)
Gäste in Almanya Rabia Yakac (please scroll down)
Wenn zwei Wege zu einem werden Amelie Büsing
Familie Zengin Kenan Zengin (please scroll down)
Meine Heimat Derya Tut (please scroll down)
Der Tod als Begleiter Daria Schwabe
Mitten in Bombenhagel Marleen Krause (please scroll down)
Zufall oder Schicksal? Cara Schulze (please scroll down)
Lebensgeschichte meiner Mutter Louisa Reimer
Flowers Green Gina Grote (please scroll down)
Der Bezirk Huzur Bogatekin (please scroll down)
Die Diaspora Arijan Bakiji
In Gedenken Yolenn Mindt (please scroll down)
Die Einwanderung meines Großvaters und meines Vaters Erijona Nrecaj (please scroll down)
Aus Sicht meiner Mutter (das traurige Geschehen) Jasja Mustapha
Vom Norden Afrikas nach Europa Amina Louaye (please scroll down)
Die Geschichte meiner Oma Tim an Haack (please scroll down)
Ohne Titel Selenay Karakaya
Aufgewachsen in Guinea Emilia Mariam Camara (please scroll down)
Weg meines Onkels nach Deutschland Mervan Dag (please scroll down)
Der Neuanfang Tarkan Sättele

A paper by Indra Wussow

Executive Summary

Freedom, human rights and mutual respect are the fundament of living together peacefully. According to Bloomfield et al., „reconciliation aids in the healing of survivors, the reparation of past injustices, the acceptance of responsibility and collective understanding of past events, and the establishment of non-violent democratic relationships between individuals and communities” (Bloomfield et al., 2003). With the establishment of the “Truth and Reconciliation Commission”, South Africa made an important step towards change and despite all its controversies Hamber and Kibble state that, „the Commission`s biggest contribution may prove to be the laying down of a definite history of apartheid´s abuses, together with its work towards a sustainable human rights culture.“ (Hamber, B.; Kibble, S. (1999, page 2).

What could be done next? How could a democratic transformation and an understanding of the past be achieved on a community level so that as many South Africans as possible can share their stories and ideas about their past and enable change in the future? This paper examines a new community approach on memory and trauma through arts and its feasibility in the South African context.

Chris Soal (2018): "In a time of peace there was a casualty of war". (Detail)

“Diverse People Remember” aims to plant the seed of reconciliation on an international scale by starting a dialogue about the effects of trauma and enabling historical re-visitation for a more prosperous and democratic future.
Within communities itself a dialogue about different life experiences will be enhanced through storytelling and arts therapies. Afterwards a connection with other communities in South Africa and abroad is crucial for the project to share stories and experiences as knowing ourselves and others supports self-agency and later reconciliation and democratic transformation.

As “Diverse People Remember” engages different communities and their people through sharing life stories, memories and trauma counselling it is able to share the understanding that our past informs our future and that wounds cannot be healed through silence.
Our expertise of an informed multicultural dialogue is rooted in Germany´s engaging “Erinnerungskultur” (culture of memory) as it is through our work with the depth and challenging practices of the arts. It can be seen in this paper that there is a need in South Africa to directly address fears and challenges as well as opposing the numbing effect of silence. By providing the platform and means to initiate and maintain the dialogue we collect an archive of stories and the opportunity to build electronic pen-friendships among “our communities” globally that will ensure a long-term success.

Creative Feel is the premier arts and culture magazine in South Africa, covering the creative industries worldwide, with special focus on Africa. Read more about our Diverse People Remember project in Indra's monthly columne "Literary Landscapes" in the August 2018 issue.