DOUBLE EXPOSURE
Liberal democracy is built on abstract concepts like freedom, equality, solidarity – and does not deliver. What other words, more concrete and connected to lived experience, could create a different democratic experience? A different democratic system built on ideas like love, friendship, violence, beauty, kindness, anger, hope? In these times of division: How can we use language for a renewed sense of togetherness?
Moderated by Annett Scheffel, this explorative discussion brings together a diverse group of stakeholders who continuously question supposed certainties and lead in transformative processes.
Together with you, the audience, we intend to explore a new vocabulary for democracy in the 21st century and find common understandings for the basics of our shared existence on planet earth.
Join us for an open discussion, share your thoughts, and see where it takes us!
SCHEDULE:
6:30pm Doors open.
7:00pm Welcoming + Introduction
7:15pm HOW TO SURVIVE THE 21st Century
9:30pm End of Event
Stakeholders:
Georg Diez is an author and journalist and currently a fellow at the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen and at ProjectTogether in Berlin, where he researches on democratic innovation. He previously worked as editor-in-chief of The New Institute, as a columnist for Spiegel Online, and for the feature sections of Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, and Süddeutsche Zeitung. For 2024, he is preparing an exhibition at Hamburg's Deichtorhallen entitled Survival in the 21st Century. Georg Diez lives in Berlin and Stockholm. Together with Igor Levit, Georg Diez is an Honorary Fellow of the Thomas Mann House.
Ashley Blakeney -Executive Director of Crenshaw Dairy Mart (she/her/hers) is a Los-Angeles based arts healing facilitator and cultural leader with more than a decade of experience working in arts organizations and education. As the Executive Director at the Crenshaw Dairy Mart since 2021, Blakeney works to help communities of color imagine new systems for a more equitable world. Blakeney has been a guest lecturer and speaker at LA Trade Tech College, the National Art Education Association Conference, SoCal Grantmakers, the J. Paul Getty Museum and the California Institute of the Arts. She holds certifications from the UCLArts and Healing Social Emotional Arts (SEA) program and the National Guild Community Arts Education Leadership Institute. She received her BA at the University of Southern California, with a focus on creative writing and photography. She has performed at spaces such as Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) and was a 2023 artist in residence at Denniston Hill.
Pauletta Pierce (She/Her) is a multicultural individual of Black/Asian ancestry, who also identifies as Blasian. Pauletta received her certification with California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals (CCAPP) from attending L.A.C.C. Human Services Department for Addiction Studies, and has maintained a CADC II along with Domestic Violence training for nearly 20 years and has recently received a new credential as a Qualified Mental Health Specialist with CCAPP. She now works as a Client Engagement Specialist with Homeless Health Care Los Angeles. Outside of her clinical work, Pauletta has actively engaged in culture-driven community organizing for the past 10 years. She has worked, amongst others, as an organizer with Save L.A. Chinatown and a member of Roots in Motion Youth Summer Camp. Pauletta is the founder of the all WOC bike collective “Date with the Night,” a contributor to the documentary film “Biking while Black,” and the creator of The Opposite of Addiction is Connection (T.O.A.C.) a 10 week Harm Reduction program for Queer People of Color (exclusively for Project Q.) as well as the creator of “Vibing with Cultural Leafs”.
Annett Scheffel is a culture writer, editor, speaker, and presenter based in Los Angeles and Berlin. She thinks, writes, and talks about music, film, feminism, and contemporary culture for the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Spiegel Online, Zeit Online Musikexpress, Dummy Magazin, and Deutschlandfunk — preferably at the intersection between identity, society, and politics.
This event is part of the project
Double Exposure, a series of talks and discussions that focuses on the question of what the idea of solidarity means in different contexts. What matters more: Community or society? Individual freedom or solidarity? These questions are of great urgency in our current times. Polarization and division seem to be the tried and tested means of political discussion. Global migration is intensifying the discussion about who has what duties towards whom, who should show solidarity towards whom and who can be denied solidarity.
Secure, free Parking is available at Metro/Retail parking structure with rear entrance to the Goethe-Institut located at
674 S. Westlake Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90057
Presented as part of the long-standing cooperation with the
Thomas Mann House Los Angeles.
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