2 days – 4 groups – endless encounters
Together with the production platform FREISCHWIMMEN and The Embassy, Cheers for Fears organized a two-day symposium at FFT Düsseldorf as part of the Impulse Festival 2025. The central theme of the event was strategies of radical political action in connection with artistic practices and aesthetics.
The symposium was divided into an internal and a public part. The internal day was dedicated to exchange and networking with other actors and institutions. Cheers for Fears invited artists on the threshold of professionalism who take political stances in their work. Current artists of FREISCHWIMMEN Light, FREISCHWIMMEN alumni and their partners were also taking part.
On the first day of the symposium, the participating artists from the Cheers for Fears network and the FREISCHWIMMEN production platform had the opportunity to get to know each other. Two artists from each group shared a 10-minute work status: Laura Oppenhäuser and Caroline Anne Kapp (FREISCHWIMMEN); Li-Heng Kuo with Yun-Chu Wen and Maja Funke (Cheers for Fears).
After the showings, the participants reflected together in moderated feedback discussions. In the afternoon, the participants of the symposium came together for table discussions in the foyer of the FFT Düsseldorf. Moderated by FREISCHWIMMEN alumni, the tables dealt with the search for the possibility of art and community under late capitalist challenges and the question of artistic attitude.
The second and public day of the symposium was organized by The Embassy and is dedicated to European exchange and networking with regard to the worrying developments in politics and society across borders. The aim of The Embassy is to remain capable of speaking and acting, to support each other and to train resistance.
The participants of Cheers for Fears and Freischwimmen concluded the day with a joint reflection.
© Dafna Gazit