La Palabre Space
“La palabre” refers to the social practice of public discourse, gathering, and collective conflict resolution found in many countries across the African continent. The themes of the series UNEXPECTED LESSONS – Knowledges of the Body and Sound are further explored and discussed through conversations, artistic interventions, and reading sessions. Guests are invited to spend time in the LA PALABRE Space, to pause, listen, participate, browse the library, drink tea, or simply linger. UNEXPECTED LESSONS – Knowledges of Body and Sound is curated by Isabel Raabe and Celina Baljeet Basra and is academically supported by Dr. Mariama Diagne. Part of TALKING OBJECTS LAB, an artistic research project that explores knowledge beyond Eurocentric systems of knowledge, led by a team of international curators from Senegal, Kenya and Germany.
Lesson 1: Knowledges of Body and Sound (opening programme, May 24-27, 2026, around Germaine Acogny’s “Somewhere at the Beginning”)
May 25, 2026, 6-8:30 p.m.: hn.lyonga and Melanie Garland, Neighboring Ecotones
May 26, 2026, 6-8:30 p.m.: Angela Guerreiro, 1952 | Archive in Motion, in dialogue with Arantxa Ciafrino
Lesson 2: Music as Resistance
August 1, 2026, 5 p.m.: Meshwar Mixtape Listening Session, during the “Resisting Otherwise” festival
August 2, 2026, 5 p.m.: Dabke dance workshop with Nancy Naser Al Deen
Lesson 3: Rethinking Dance in Academia
September 11, 2026, 2-9 p.m.: jee chan (bendungan) and Tsai Cheng-jung with Frieda Luk (Living as Thing: Embodied Practices of Yellow Feminism)
Lesson 4: Decolonizing the Body in Dance
September 12, 2026, 2-9 p.m.: Coole Kinder, with Franziska Gerth, Juana del Mar, Evgenia Chetvertkova, Susanne Grau and Arantxa Ciafrino
Lesson 6: Healing Practices and Body Memory (upcoming)
January 16, 2027, 5-7 p.m.: Claudix Vanesix, Dance Permit (Denied)
January 17, 2027, 5-7 p.m.: Raísa Inocêncio, Banhos (Baths)
Lesson 7: Knowledge Systems in Music (upcoming)
February 20, 2027, 5-7 p.m.: Nadine Nzambisa and Bùi Việt Hoa Jin in conversation
February 21, 2027, 5-7 p.m.: students of meLê yamomo
Radialsystem, Berlin
May 2026 - February 2027