Empowerment-Workshops
„Authorship as Power – Empowerment through Poetry and Spoken Word“
Prior to the conference “Circulation of Knowledge and Aesthetics of the Spectacular” at JLU Gießen (28-29 Jan 2026),
the first of four planned empowerment workshops for students from the German and international Sinti and Roma communities
took place. Participants attended the bilingual workshop „Authorship as Power – Empowerment through Poetry and Spoken Word“
led by Cat/ Catalin Jugravu (MxCAT), theater director, performer, and researcher based in Berlin.
The workshop opened with a lecture by Francesco Arman, advisory board member of the Research Unit,
and Kirsten von Hagen on “Carmen – Sociocultural and Aesthetic Aspects and Performative Transformations of a Text,"
inviting critical reflection on ethical questions surrounding the representation of Sinti and Roma in art and culture.
Workshop participants were invited to attend the conference and presented the public performance
“THE TEXTS WE KEEP — A Public Multilingual Poetry Reading” in the foyer of the GCSC – International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture.
The multilingual poetry reading constituted a powerful statement on authorship, self-representation, and artistic agency,
underscoring the Research Unit’s commitment to fostering dialogue between academic analysis, empowerment, and artistic practice.