Ramadram: Refugee Struggles, Empowerment, and Institutional Openings in German Theatre

Abstract

Migration movements, refugee struggles, and racial discrimination in German society and theatre have a long and interwoven history. Marschall sheds light on the issue of institutional openings in German theatre in response to the so-called refugee crisis in 2015, drawing attention to the theatre’s solidarity with refugee struggles such as Lampedusa in Hamburg. The shows how this so-called crisis is as much about forced migration, as it is one of national identity, racial and colonial politics and self-understanding, both in Germany and in Europe at large. The focuses on the case of Migrantpolitan, which opened in 2015 as an autonomous refugee community centre and creative laboratory on the premises of Kampnagel, a German theatre based in Hamburg. As well as looking at the ways in which Migrantpolitan reconfigures the narrative of a pluriversal German society, Marschall explores their decolonial practices.