WHAT DOES THAT MEAN, WHAT DO WE DO, AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Awareness means being aware to not crossing people's boundaries and feelings of safety. Such boundary crossing can take place physically, verbally and non-verbally: Through unwanted touching, discriminatory statements, weird looks, derogatory gestures....
With this awareness concept, we at the Zürcher Theater Spektakel want to create an awareness that we all bear a collective responsibility as soon as we move in a space (here: a festival site).
Our society is built in a way that encourages border crossings, violations and exclusions. Patriarchal patterns are still present, colonialism with all its consequences is far from being dealt with, rejectionism and discrimination against people with disabilities are unfortunately still commonplace in many places – to name just a few examples. These mechanisms, which are deeply rooted in our society, also contribute to the fact that derogatory terms, for example, are part of an everyday vocabulary – sometimes not even in the full awareness of the people who use those terms. Therefore, it is important to be attentive to one's own privileges in order to be able to act considerately and take good care of each other. We do not tolerate any form of violence, sexism, LGBTQIA+ hostility, racism, xenophobia, ableism, ageism and any other form of discrimination. Explanation of terms in the glossary.
THANKS
This awareness text and the following glossary are based on the awareness work of various organisations. We thank the following institutions for their preliminary work: Bla*sh, Feministisches Streikhaus Zürich, Musikfestwochen Winterthur, Clubbüro Rote Fabrik, Awareness Akademie, B Aware Berlin, Diversity Arts Culture Berlin, City of Zurich.