TD Berlin: ON THE FIRST NIGHT WE LOOKED AT MAPS

Within just a few years, more than 30,000 people fled from German territories to the banks of the Volga in the middle of the 18th century. They escaped war, hunger and persecution. But the promised land was anything but expected.The audience sits at a large table together with the queer Argentinian-German artist couple Vöcks de Schwindt - bent over maps, photos, documents and a hymn book. Mate tea is served. The search for a homeland that perhaps never existed begins.Together we travel across borders and continents, through family and migration stories: following in the footsteps of the Volga Germans who emigrated from Hesse to Russia and continued their journey on the South American continent 100 years later.

In a free-flowing narrative, the couple reconstruct the time of their first encounter, while at the same time examining nationalist narratives and contradictions of family identity. In doing so, they look out for a queer heritage and encounter ancestors who can only be what they want to be when they are not in the place they feel bound to.

"ON THE FIRST NIGHT WE LOOKED AT MAPS"

by Vöcks de Schwindt

November 15, 2024 at 6:00 pm & 9:00 pm* (EN)

November 16, 2024 at 5:00 pm & 8:00 pm

* November 15, 9 pm in English