The Rehearsal & The Playbook
The Rehearsal & The Playbook is an inquiry into the dynamics of authoritarianism and populism, offering a critical case study while connecting these insights to global trends using collective and processual knowledge production through artistic research, collaboration, and solidarity practices. The engaging series of programs, conceived with artists, cultural practitioners, scholars, and activists, will address the following questions: How do we gaze into the abyss without being consumed? Where does control rehearse before it spreads? When power retweets paranoia, can we respond with doubt, uncertainty, and hesitation? How do we overcome internalised authoritarian control and begin to imagine otherwise? Can we break free from emotive economies and empower knowledge?
The project unfolds through three interconnected components:
The Rehearsal | Collaborative Artistic Productions
Rehearsal, here, means preparing for repression—individually and collectively. Just as activists practise future resistance, artists will use performative formats to rehearse responses to authoritarianism. Rooted in diverse contexts yet speaking globally, their time-based works—performances, lectures, videos, or publications—will be shared at public events in Berlin and Istanbul in autumn 2025.
The Rehearsal | Alternative Programme: Visceras of Authoritarianism and Global Populism
Running May to September 2025, this series of five intensive online sessions brings together invited artists, academics, and theorists to explore state control, populism, and strategies of resistance.
The Playbook | Digital Publication
Published on STRÜKTÜR’s platform Reading Room, the Playbook will compile newly produced artistic works (in full or excerpted), transcripts, and reflections from contributors. Merging artistic and theoretical insights, it forms a living archive and shared resource for resisting authoritarian and populist tactics.
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The Rehearsal & The Playbook -
How do we gaze into the abyss without being consumed? -
Where does control rehearse before it spreads? -
When power retweets paranoia, can we respond with doubt, uncertainty, and hesitation? -
How do we overcome internalized authoritarian control and begin to imagine otherwise? -
Can we break free from emotive economies and empower knowledge?
The Rehearsal | Collaborative Artistic Productions
Rehearsal, here, means preparing for repression—individually and collectively. Just as activists practise future resistance, artists will use performative formats to rehearse responses to authoritarianism. Rooted in diverse contexts yet speaking globally, their time-based works—performances, lectures, videos, or publications—will be shared at public events in Berlin and Istanbul in autumn 2025.
The Rehearsal | Alternative Programme: Visceras of Authoritarianism and Global Populism
Running May to September 2025, this series of five intensive online sessions brings together invited artists, academics, and theorists to explore state control, populism, and strategies of resistance.
The Playbook | Digital Publication
Published on STRÜKTÜR’s platform Reading Room, the Playbook will compile newly produced artistic works (in full or excerpted), transcripts, and reflections from contributors. Merging artistic and theoretical insights, it forms a living archive and shared resource for resisting authoritarian and populist tactics.
