Belonging

/bɪˈlɒŋɪŋ/

noun

1. an affinity for a place or situation.
2. a sense of fitting in or being comfortable.
3. the feeling of security and support when there is a sense of acceptance.
4. [your own definition]

Colonial histories and increasingly mobile lifestyles provoke questions about belonging. In 2 short performances, the Berlin-based authors and artists avrina prabala-joslin and Maya Saravia, who come to this city from different places around the world, present their literary and artistic interventions that address the feeling of belonging – or the absence of it. Generally speaking, people belong to this world, but the world doesn’t belong to all people in the same way. The sense of belonging can be personal and political, physical or conceptual, a pressing problem, irrelevant or a joyful experience.

avrina prabala-joslin / அவ்ரீனா பிரபலா-ஜாஸ்லின் (1992, Tamil Nadu) writes fiction and poetry on places, beings and times. Obsessed with memories that pervade and evade, often of childhood, avrina’s writing is an ebb and flow characteristic of her desire for the sea. avrina’s tamil being, frustrated with the english of avrina’s mouth, now writes on his own as Chella Thambi. His words though are still in avrina’s, as he is too. In addition to winning the Short Fiction / University of Essex International Short Story Prize 2021 judged by writer Irenosen Okojie, avrina’s works have been shortlisted for the Indiana Review Fiction Prize 2021, Radical Art Review Contest 2021, the Berlin Writing Prize 2019 and longlisted for the Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize 2021. avrina has read her works at/for the Literaturhaus Berlin, the poesie festival Berlin, Performing Arts Festival Berlin, English Theatre Berlin, Lovecrumbs Edinburgh, Present Literary Journal UK, Mapping Memory, Fiction Canteen Berlin, etc. Website: http://www.avrinajos.net

Maya Saravia is a Guatemalan artist based in Berlin. Her work focuses on the research of movement and the potential of the body, the crisis of presence in contemporary societies, and the processes of abstraction in which collective narratives are constructed. A part of her practice is focused on the formation of musical and dance traditions, as well as syncretic practices in culture and religion that arose at the junction of colonialism. She works on installation, painting, archive and performance.

Performances will start at 7:30 pm and run for about 60 minutes, doors will open earlier to allow you to find a seat and grab a drink.

The event is free and will take place in English spoken language.