The literature festival PREE. Caribbean Writing from Jamaica opens the new Middle Ground series at the HKW from August 25–27

Middle Ground: PREE. Caribbean Writing
—Interactions, Transactions, Reciprocities

Readings, Discussions, Workshops, Keynote Lectures, Performances, Concerts, Party
25.–27. August 2023

Free Entry. Concerts €18/14
In English; German Sign Language (DGS) is offered when indicated.
Accreditation: presse@hkw.de

Middle Ground is a yearly series that invites literature festivals from around the world to the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) to explore literary and oraliture practices and networks. The project takes its name from Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe’s contemplation of the ‘middle ground’ as a position that is ‘aware of a future to head into and a past to fall back on’.

As part of a larger framework that thinks beyond the physical space that HKW occupies and the possibilities of a borderless world, the hybrid forms of existing festivals that Middle Ground hosts explore the dynamics of interaction, transaction, and reciprocity that define literary festivals.

The 2023 guest festival for Middle Ground is PREE: Caribbean Writing based in Jamaica. Founded in 2018 and curated by Jamaican writer and editor Annie Paul as a literary festival and online platform, PREE explores Caribbean writing by engaging with and mapping the literary landscapes and praxis of different countries. PREE is interested in contemporary texts by established as well as still unknown voices in the Caribbean and presents them to the public. As part of Middle Ground, authors selected by PREE take part in performances, readings, lectures, panels, and facilitate workshops for writers.

With contributions by:

Ada M. Patterson, Annie Paul, ARN4L2, Cristina Bendek, Isis Semaj-Hall, Jennifer Richard, Josefina Báez, Kei Miller, Lafleur Cockburn, Marlon James, Pretty Gang Collective, Rhea Ramjohn, Sharmaine Lovegrove and Vladimir Lucien. With audio works by: Beatriz Llenín Figueroa, Christopher Cozier, Jean D’Amérique, Merle Collins, Richard ‘Dingo’ Dingwall, Richard Georges, Roland Watson-Grant, Shivanee Ramlochan, and Tanicia Pratt.

Programme

Friday, 25 August 2023

00:00–00:00
Hear, Hear! Listening Station
Audio Installation
Pavilion (Semra Ertan Garden)

18:00–19:45 
Opening Ceremony with a keynote by Annie Paul and a talk with Marlon James, and Dzekashu MacViban (DGS interpretation)
Forough Farrokhzad Garden

20:00 
Dowdelin
Concert
Paulette Nardal Terrace

21:00
Erick Cosaque
Concert
Paulette Nardal Terrace

Evening ticket for both concerts €18/14

Saturday, 26 August 2023

00:00–14:00
Hear, Hear! Listening Station
Audio Installation
Pavilion (Semra Ertan Garden)

12:00–14:00 
Workshop with Ingrid Persaud: Finding Your Writing Voice
Lili Elbe Garden

12:00–14:00 
Workshop with Vladimir Lucien: Bosomtwa – The 1s & 2s & the &
Lili Elbe Garden

14:00–15:30
Unravelling Publishing Practices with Annie Paul, Sharmaine Lovegrove, and Dzekashu MacViban
Panel
Pavilion (Semra Ertan Garden)

16:00–17:30 
The Rhthm of Rememberance with Vladimir Lucien, Rhea Ramjohn, and Dzekashu MacViban
Panel, Reading
Pavilion (Semra Ertan Garden)

18:00–19:30 
The Body Becomes Its Own Poem with Ada Patterson, Kei Miller, Isis Semaj-Hall (DGS interpretation)
Panel, Reading
Forough Farrokhzad Garden

19:30–00:00
Hear, Hear! Listening Station
Audio Installation
Pavilion (Semra Ertan Garden)

20:00–22:00 
Voice, Echo, and Location
Open Mic Night, DJ Set
Forough Farrokhzad Garden

22:00–01:00 
ARN4L2
DJ Set
Weltwirtschaft

Sunday, 27 August 2023

00:00–14:00
Hear, Hear! Listening Station
Audio Installation
Pavilion (Semra Ertan Garden)

14:00–15:30 
The Only Way To Find Your Voice Is to Use It with Ingrid Persaud, Lafleur Cockburn, and Annie Paul
Panel, Reading
Pavillon (Semra Ertan Garden)

16:00–17:30 
Reimagining Temporalities with Cristina Bendek, Jennifer Richard, and Dzekashu MacViban
Panel, Reading
Pavilion (Semra Ertan Garden)

18:00–19:00 
ReadingFormance: Trilogy Concert-ing (Premiere) with Josefina Báez (Performance), and Dzekashu MacViban
Safi Faye Hall

19:30–00:00
Hear, Hear! Listening Station
Audio Installation
Pavilion (Semra Ertan Garden)

More information: hkw.de/middle-ground
Press photos: hkw.de/pressphotos

Visit Information

Opening Times
Wed.–Mon. 12:00–19:00
Extended opening hours during evening programmes.
Free admission on Mondays and on every first Sunday of the month (Museumssonntag Berlin). 

Childcare with programme
HKW offers free childcare for many of its programmes. For further information visit hkw.de

Current information about visiting and accessibility.

Weltwirtschaft Restaurant is open daily, from 12:00–00:00 on weekdays and 10:00–00:00 on weekends.­

­Contact

Jan Trautmann

Pressesprecher
Lead Communications Officer
Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW)
John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10
10557 Berlin

T: + 49 (0) 30 397 87 157
presse@hkw.de