Words by Lilli Lammert

 

 

SOFT POWER FESTIVAL RECAP

A transdisciplinary weekend at the intersection of art, music and social dialogue.

“It is about a loving way of coming together, of engaging in a creative and generative act. We want to place love at the center and create a healing space that continues to resonate long after one has left it.” – Anahita Sadighi

 

From September 11 to 13, the Soft Power Festival brought together art, music, performance, food and conversation at Haus der Visionäre as part of Berlin Art Week. Initiated by Anahita Sadighi, the festival explored how small circumstances shape and influence our perception and the ways culture creates moments of exchange and connection.

 

Curated by María Inés Plaza Lazo and Anahita Sadighi, the exhibition brought together about 40 artists working across contemporary arts, crafts, performance and food. Architects and scenographers Pierre Jorge Gonzalez and Judith Haase designed the setting for this interdisciplinary gathering, transforming Haus der Visionäre to accommodate the festival’s diverse programme. Rather than separating the different disciplines, Soft Power placed them alongside one another, inviting visitors to move in between the artworks, conversations, performances and music.

 

“Being able to taste something made the experience much more integrated.”            

Sensory elements like various foods, beverages and activities were part of what made the experience feel so very different for adventurous visitors, becoming an extension of the exhibition rather than being enjoyed separately.

 

The programme was on 24/7, all night and day, with concerts embedded directly into the exhibition and a DJ set for the entire duration at the so called Sonnenraum featuring artists like Fred P, Lakuti and Galcher Lustwerk. All across the festival space, different art forms and communities came together in one space, extending a feeling of symbiosis between art and people.

 

María Inés Plaza Lazo, Pierre Jorge Gonzalez & Judith Haase, Anahita Sadighi

“It’s really interesting to see people from all different kinds of art forms coming together in one place and sharing information.”    

 

Among the performances exhibited was artist Aathirai Valentine’s Taking Up Space, an installation exploring femininity, restriction and personal boundaries through pink fabrics, ruffles and oversized garments. The performance transformed socialized markers of femininity into something both beautiful and unsettling, questioning where personal space begins and who gets to put a claim to it.

 

 

Taking Up Space

“The idea came from the political climate we’re currently living in, and from seeing women being pushed further and further into traditional roles. I wanted to take elements like pink and ruffles, which are traditionally associated with femininity, and present them in a very distorted way.” – Aathirai Valentine          

 

For three days, Soft Power Festival blurred the boundaries between exhibition, performance, nightlife and social gathering. Rather than defining what culture should do, the festival created space for visitors to experience, question and connect on their own terms, leaving room for the questions that emerged along the way.

 

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