Moving memories. Embodied Acts of Collective Remembering through Dance and Theater

On 2 July I will start a conversation with my Sevi Bayraktar, Wan Issa and Sandra Kurfürst at the symposium Participatory Memory – Collective Imagination.

Drawing on our own research experiences we will ask how participatory practices of remembering in dance and theatre can challenge dominant constructions of collective memory manifested in monuments, anthems, institutionalised archives and staged choreographies. Such state-aligned narratives rely on notions of unity and nationalism that systematically marginalise the memories of ethnicised, racialised and gendered subjects to consolidate their own legitimacy. In contrast, embodied memory practices in a variety of folk dances in Turkey, Kurdish Govend dance, Senegalese forum theatre, and Vietnamese hip hop constitute ephemeral yet powerful formations emerging from marginalised communities across different historical and geopolitical contexts. These practices have the potential to create publics in which collective remembering is performed, negotiated, and transformed, while opening new forms of inclusive self-representation, collective healing, and resistance. Drawing on case studies from research conducted between Cologne and Turkey, Kurdistan, Vietnam, and Senegal, we ask how embodied acts of remembering unsettle hegemonic narratives and operate as embodied and dynamic archives of resistance.

The symposium contributes to ongoing debates on gender, race, and class within cultural imaginations of the past. It does so by examining the participation of co-researchers from cultural institutions and civil society activism, including those from marginalised communities. In recent years, participatory approaches have gained increasing prominence, fostering forms of knowledge production that are co-constructed within broader social contexts rather than being defined solely within (academically) institutionalised research. However, studies of cultural memory often still fall short of fully integrating participatory methods that ensure the active involvement of societal actors in shaping project design, research questions, and analysis. The symposium seeks to advance participatory memory studies that approach cultural memory in socially engaged and inclusive ways. It addresses the general challenges and opportunities of participatory methods in transdisciplinary research, maps memory researchers’ experiences with these approaches, and aims to initiate collaborations with co-researchers during the event.

When & Where?
📅 Date Thursday 2 July 2026

⏰ Time 9:15 to 16:30

📍 Venue Room 11, TH Köln, Cologne International School of Design, Ubierring 40, 50678 Cologne

Register alexander.van_wickeren@th-koeln.de
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