And it starts with silence - Long Table session

A Long Table was organized by The Festival Academy on 25 June in the framework of and in collaboration with Theater der Welt; inviting curators, guests and audiences to the Table to join in an equal conversation, prompted by the statement 'Co-Curation is a Utopia'. 

The Long Table is an experimental, non-hierarchical discussion format that transforms the intimate setting of a dinner party into a public platform for debate. Conceived by performance artist Lois Weaver in 2003, it experiments with alternatives to traditional, expert-led panels. The Long Table allows voices to be heard equally, disrupting hierarchical notions of 'expertise'.  

The conversation was joined by Theater Der Welt curators, festival makers from The Festival Academy community,  ITI academy fellows, as well as guests and audiences from Theater der Welt, and was observed and listened to by those sitting around the table. Important questions about mobility, collaboration, and inequalities in influence and power were brought to the table. Questions were raised as to what curation is, what it means regarding distribution, resources, and power.  

European voices seemed to be less prone to join the table, which left the conversation somewhat in the voices of the global majority world, often marginalized and racialized voices, where some who participated felt as being performative in being watched reinforcing some of the gates the format is aiming to cut through. This raises interesting questions as to who feels comfortable enough to take up a seat and who doesn’t, and it suggests a turning of the tables where European voices have long dominated these spaces. The Long Table is an open invitation and does not always invite comfort; it can also include silence, awkwardness and shyness, just as real life does.   

The conversation was not aiming for fixed answers, and yet remained meaningful because of the perspectives that collectively shape our conversations and imagination.  

Find here the report written by Mette Van Zoest.