awareness

Festivals and other cultural events contribute possibilities to let go and balance everyday stress and tension by offering opportunity for ecstasy and ebullience. They form important cultural, networking and social spaces. They should also be able to gift this space to people who are usually experiencing discrimination in everyday life.

Unfortunately, we had to realize that we could not protect all participants and crew members sufficiently in the past. The preparation for the „Bucht der Träume“ was accompanied by insights about our own experiences of discrimination, possibilities of intervention and confrontation. The resulting debate pointed us towards many blind spots and has made a lasting difference in our understanding of ourselves as a place for self-development and empowerment.

In order to come to terms with the mistakes, discrimination and exercises of power that have occurred in our team, we are taking a close look at our own work processes and structures. To this end, we have enlisted external support and are still in an ongoing development process, learning and unlearning every day.

We have put a lot of effort into reorganizing our Awareness structures. One important result of this work is that during this year’s Bucht der Träume 2022 the head of the awareness department will have final say on how to deal with people who discriminate and/or use violence, even if the person concerned should be part of the organisation. In this way, we hope to break through existing power structures and enable lasting change.

Further, all crew members will participate in an awareness workshop during the building period of the festival. For all festival visitors, the new awareness structures will be presented in detail at the workshop space klar(t)raum on 18.08. at 18:00. We want to resolutely oppose sexism, racism, ableism, queerphobia and any other form of discrimination on the Bucht der Träumer*. In doing so, we also take a critical look at our own organizational and power structures.

For us, it remains paramount to make our festival as safe as possible. We live in a world of diverse power structures. Capitalist, racist, chauvinist, patriarchal, ableist, and many other mechanisms of oppression form a complex framework of privilege and hierarchy. Time and again, these lead to the exclusion of vulnerable groups. It is our task to break up these structures and counteract them. With the Bucht der Träumer, we want to create a space that is characterized by mutual respect and consent. Let's work together towards a world where everyone can feel safe. Making the world a better place can only succeed if we start with ourselves. The Bucht der Träumer* awareness team will be present at the festival with a large contingent of experiencial workshops. The team understands itself as your friends, supporters and listeners. They are there for you when you need support or help. You will recognize us by the T-shirts with the print "Awareness" and will find a permanent station at the "Safer Space", the awareness area, next to the SupportA Base.

For all questions about our awareness concept, you can contact our awareness team: awareness@bucht-der-traeumer.de In addition, beyond the festival season, our Confidence Office remains available throughout the year. vertrauensstelle@bucht-der-traeumer.de The Confidence Office is staffed by a trained FLINTA* person and trained mediator, and offers advice and active support for experiences of discrimination experienced in connection with our festival.