Press release , 19 March 2018

Which Future?! Der nächste Staat – Rethinking State Symposium & Workshop

Co-produced by the Deutsches Theater Berlin and the

Writer and film/theatre director Andres Veiel and author Jutta Doberstein present the second instalment of their project Welche Zukunft?! on 21 and 22 April 2018 at the in Berlin. The public symposium Der nächste Staat – Rethinking State brings together citizens and top experts to design new forms of state and work. Registration begins on Wednesday, 28 March 2018 – please go to events.humboldtforum.com.

The digital revolution is influencing our democracy, our legal systems and our ways of living and working. It seems to be creating a divide between a new cosmopolitan class of global citizens and a society that is watching its creative possibilities increasingly dwindle. What role will a state of the future play in mediating between the protection of property and concern for the common good? Will it become the custodian of an unconditional universal basic income or are its foundations already being eroded by the power of transnational corporations? Will it even be dismantled over the long term and replaced by self-directed units of free individuals? What kind of future are we heading for?

These questions are the focus of the symposium, which will take the form of a public process of research and debate. Some 180 people will join in workshops, discussion groups and game-style formats to develop and then test the feasibility of new models of work and pay, governance and participation. The symposium is being co-designed by prominent figures from the realms of culture, activism and scholarship, among them Joe Quirk from Seasteading Institute (USA), Ariella Helfgott from the Environmental Change Institute in Oxford (UK), Daniel Häni of the unternehmen company in Basel (CH), Cornelia Daheim from Future Impact in Cologne, Bernhard Neumärker from the Institut für Allgemeine Wirtschaftsordnung at the University of Freiburg; as

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well as musicians Sven Kacirek (Hamburg) & Daniel Muhuni (Nairobi) and the Berlin philosopher and scholar of literature, culture and media Joseph Vogl. Details of the programme can be downloaded from humboldtforum.com/presse.

Which Future?! began in September 2017 with a workshop at the Deutsches Theater Berlin. International scientists, scholars and some 250 participants worked together to develop a fictional, yet fact-based (crisis) scenario for the next ten years. The second part, Der nächste Staat – Rethinking State, deals with the most pressing issues and problems that were raised by the workshop. In the third phase, thematic concerns and findings from the workshop and symposium will be fed into a stage play, which will have its world premiere on 28 September 2018 at the Deutsches Theater Berlin. A final conference to conclude the series is scheduled to take place in the Humboldt Forum after its opening in the Berlin .

When the Humboldt Forum opens its doors in late 2019 it will mark the establishment of a whole new cultural quarter in the very heart of Berlin. By bringing together outstanding collections containing major exhibits – among them spiritual objects and artworks from Asia, Africa and America – and coupling these with a variety of cultural activities, the Humboldt Forum is seeking to inspire new insights into the worlds of the past, present and future. The participating actors are the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SPK) with the Ethnologisches Museum and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kulturprojekte Berlin with Stadtmuseum Berlin, and the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, with the Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner taking on a leading role. With its diverse programme of exhibitions, discussions, performances, workshops, films and artistic interventions, the Humboldt Forum has already developed a highly visible presence throughout Berlin.

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Which Future?! Der nächste Staat – Rethinking State Symposium & Workshop

Dates Saturday, 21 April 2018, 5–9.30 pm; Sunday, 22 April 2018, 9.30 am – 8 pm Venue Kronprinzenpalais, 3, 10117 Berlin Participants include Joe Quirk from Seasteading Institute (USA), Dr. Ariella Helfgott from the Environmental Change Institute, Oxford (UK), Daniel Häni, unternehmen mitte (Switzerland), Cornelia Daheim, Future Impact, Cologne, Prof. Bernhard Neumärker, Institut für Allgemeine Wirtschaftsordnung at the University of Freiburg; plus musicians Sven Kacirek (Hamburg) & Daniel Muhuni (Nairobi) and Berlin philosopher and scholar of literature, culture and media Prof. Joseph Vogl. Detailed programme humboldtforum.com/presse Languages German, English Participation Attendance is required on both days Admission Free of charge Registration From 28 March 2018 at events.humboldtforum.com. Media professionals should apply to [email protected].

Deutsches Theater Which Future?! # Let them eat money Premiere Save the date Friday, 28 September 2018

Organizer Which Future?! is a co-production between the Deutsches Theater Berlin and the Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media on the basis of a resolution passed in the German Parliament.

Press contact Michael Mathis Press Officer Cultural & Digital +49 151 16 17 97 27, [email protected]

Luisa Männel Communications, Deutsches Theater Berlin +49 30 28 441 234, [email protected]

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