the United Negotiations of Otherness explore, if performativity – depict as political process as well as artistic practice of role-play and embodied experience – can envisage a culture that appreciates both similarities and differences?
Where previously developmental assistance nearly exclusively concerned Western standards of living and economic reasoning in conflict regions of the Global South, Vivien Tauchmann established the United Negotiations of Otherness (UNO) in 2018 to support northern underdeveloped communities in their struggle with the chaotic and primitive neglect of otherness.
By approaching indirect communication strategies, the initiative seeks to challenge the pre- dominant conceptions of division and power relations between ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ on multiple levels – from North and South, Left contra Right, rational versus irrational, reason versus emotion. In times where racism and degrading sentiments are at the centre of civil life and a political discourse is increasingly characterised by polarisation, it seeks to illustrate that an understanding and accommodating of otherness can not only shape dialogue but to can serve as equalizer between regional poles.
Instead of envisaging a unified world, the UNO embrace the idea of multiple spaces, where political and cultural persuasion can be confronted differently and are allowed to be played out in mutual respect. By considering conflicts not only as something that generates division, but in speculating on possible encounters, this might also trigger new forms of negotiated collaborations: new potentials.
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