Veteran German-based choreographer Joana Tischkau premiered her new dance piece “Runnin’” as part of the performance series at Berlin’s highly respected performance venue HAU. This research examines the deep potential of the linking of postmodern dance and the Black body. Its juxtaposition exemplifies the nuances of identity in contemporary performative arts.
As a Black German, queer and non-binary, disabled and transgender artist Tischkau’s vision and experience is sorely needed in our culture today. Her comments echo a larger fear about changing perceptions of diversity in the arts. She notes that she has managed to navigate what she describes as the “extremely short window of so-called ‘diversity-sensitive opening’.” This window, she contends, is currently slamming shut at breakneck speed, marking the onset of a coordinated strategic backlash toward inclusivity in Germany’s cultural sphere.
The energy and resources that were previously devoted to anti-racist and inclusive initiatives started to fade. Tischkau’s work comes at a moment when D&I programs have been some of the first victims of austerity backlash. This development is indicative of a broader conservative turn in the cultural politics across Berlin. The take back control far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) now accuses any focus on diversity and target-gender politics as simply “ideological indoctrination.”
In the latest parliamentary debate, the AfD seized on statements from past jury members. They are challenging public funding for cultural institutions such as Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), accusing these institutions of fostering “pro-migration” programming. This close examination captures a prevailing mood that is increasingly anti–cultural expression at its core, even in all the ways we fundamentally value diversity.
Runnin’” also serves as an artistic statement and a commentary on these societal shifts. Ultimately, the work uses the “pedestrian movement” of postmodern dance to challenge perceptions and generate constructive discussion of race and identity. She doesn’t think her experiences are unique. Rather than being outliers, they are simply the continuation of a larger story, one that needs to become the norm across the arts.
“As a Black German, able-bodied and cisgender woman, I managed to slide through the extremely short window of so-called ‘diversity-sensitive opening’. A window that is now completely closing … This is not participation. This is anti-democratic … My biography should not be an exception, but the norm.” – tanzschreiber.de
Tischkau’s reflections ring true with a bevy of artists and intellectuals wrestling with the same questions. Prize-winners In 2023, Senegalese novelist Mohamed Mbougar Sarr was awarded the Haus der Kulturen der Welt international literary prize. He was awarded this privilege for his highly praised novel, “The Most Secret Memory of Men.” His recognition highlights the importance of diverse voices in literature and art and raises questions about the sustainability of such recognition in an increasingly polarized environment.
In Germany, the anti-diversity and anti-inclusion backlash is much less overt than in other parts of the world. Nowhere have public debates on these issues reached a fevered pitch quite like here in the United States. Third, tischkau and colleagues found that at the population level using NHANES data. They feel that all the steps we’ve taken to welcome and encourage diversity are now being attacked.