How stories help us to overcome our powerlessness
Storytelling Workshop with Georg Blokus (School of Political Hope)

Friday, September 23, 9:30 a.nm. -5 p.m.
Ort: Stadtwirtschaft, Jakobstraße 46, Chemnitz

Register until September 10 latest.

Please let us know what we can do to help you participate (e.g., childcare, language assistance, other barriers).

Corona protection: Please come tested!

We live in a world that confronts us daily with deep feelings of powerlessness. But how do we ensure that we don’t lose hope and at the same time gain new courage? By creating spaces where we are not left alone but are all together. In this workshop, the School of Political Hope, represented by Georg Blokus, will make the specially developed method of the circle of trust tangible for the participants in order to strengthen the emotional and relational work in cultural and democracy projects. Based on this collective storytelling method, theoretical insights into the power of stories and practical examples of moving storytelling in artistic actions and political campaigns will be given. In addition, participants will be encouraged to exchange ideas about the role of stories in their own professional practice and to develop inspiring first-person stories with methodological guidance. Together, we will thus use our biographical stories and professional experiences to explore why stories are suppressed and how we can regain power over our story(s). For other futures become imaginable only when we learn to tell the stories of the many pasts and presences.

Notes:
The workshop will be held in German. Prerequisite for participation should be the desire to share personal stories and professional experiences with a group in a protected setting and to give more space to storytelling in our practice.

Workshop leader:
Georg Blokus, born in 1987 in Gdansk, is a psychology graduate who works as a political organizer, visual artist, art activist and strategist with progressive movements, unions and cultural institutions to become stronger together in the struggle for democracy, solidarity and justice. Before initiating the School of Political Hope in 2017 together with activist:friends and cultural workers, he was artistic-pedagogical director at the Akademie der Künste der Welt/Cologne. Since 2021, he has headed the Berlin office of European Alternatives – a transnational grassroots organization that stands for democracy, equality, and culture beyond the nation-state.

Self-Promotion:
The School of Political Hope (SPH) is a school for all who are looking for inspiration, empowerment, skills, tools and support for an active political life. Citizens, communities, and civic actors who want to improve their lives and the world come together at SPH – to learn how to organize politically and act together. For a world where everyone is taken care of – beyond national borders and languages, class, education and status, origin and skin color, gender, sexuality and disabilities.