Three questions for our diversity agents

Dear visitors to Gessnerallee, dear artists

Ramona Unterberg and Manuel Gerst have been working as diversity agents at Gessnerallee since the start of the season last summer. We asked them three questions about their work for this weekly newsletter.

You started as diversity agents at the Gessnerallee in August last year. How would you describe the essence of your work?

Ramona Unterberg: Essentially, we do diversity development: we support anti-discriminatory opening processes at Gessnerallee at the audience, programme and staff levels.

Manuel Gerst: In terms of awareness-raising and accessibility, we consider together how Gessnerallee can open up even further to marginalised groups. To this end, we develop concrete measures that have an outward impact. However, a large part of the work also involves working on internal structures. 

What has been a particularly memorable moment in your role so far? 

Manuel Gerst: We are currently working with the organisation ‘Sensability’, which advises institutions on accessibility. In December, we organised an internal workshop with them in which the participants were asked to take on the perspective of a person with a disability. We were quite excited in advance about how this would work and, above all, how the workshop would be received by the team. In the end, we were very relieved that there was so much positive feedback and that it also had a strong team-building effect.

What are the biggest challenges of your job? 

Manuel Gerst: There are still hardly any experience and reference values, which is why we also try to exchange ideas with colleagues from other cultural institutions. The field of diversity development is still in its infancy and is unfortunately increasingly being cut back. Communicating the field to the outside world and reaching people from marginalised groups at all is a feat. But we still have a few years to go and are very confident.

Ramona Unterberg: Our positions are new and many tasks and processes interfere with established processes and areas of responsibility. Unlearning together and patiently and ideally launching new processes sensibly is the most challenging opportunity for me.

Programme recommendations for the week

10 April, 8 p.m.

‘MITOSIS - an LSD Opera’ by Brandy Butler

What happens when a diagnosis changes everything? Brandy Butler's interdisciplinary team presents a passionate opera about dying. The last event is currently sold out. Remaining tickets are available at the box office. More information

12 April, 11 am to 3 pm

‘FAIRCHECK#02 - Augenhöhe & Kommunikationskultur’

In collaboration with FLUX crew and other actors from the independent scene, the guiding principles of the Fairspec Code will be subjected to a reality check. FAIRCHECK#02 is an event organised by the Zurich-based FAIRSPEC initiative, which aims to establish ethical guidelines and working methods in the independent scene. More information

12 April, 9 pm

‘THE LIMIT DOES NOT EXIST’ by JULIAN ZIGERLI

JULIAN ZIGERLI presents the latest collections with an exclusive showcase in Zurich. More information

19 April, 8 to 9.30 pm

‘Residue of the Heart’ by Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson and Studio Dan

Another concert curated by Year-To-Date will take place over Easter: This time, the ensemble Studio Dan with Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson will perform his compositions and those of Meredith Monk. More information

Newspaper

Welche Bedeutung hat der Tod für mein Leben?

This season, the Gessnerallee is focussing on dealing with death in several productions. We are therefore particularly pleased that the philosopher and author Barbara Bleisch has written a touching essay on dealing with death. Read it here or in our third print edition. Order now at zeitung@gessnerallee.ch

Furthermore

Last week, ‘MITOSIS - an LSD Opera’ by Brandy Butler celebrated its premiere at our theatre - accompanied by many journalistic publications. For example, Tim Wirth spoke to Brandy Butler for the ‘Tages-Anzeiger’. Mathias Balzer wrote a review for ‘FRIDA Magazin’. And here is the interview that Aleksandra Hiltmann wrote for our newspaper.

We hope you enjoy reading it!

The Gessnerallee team

PS: Do you enjoy good cultural stories? Or do you know someone who doesn't like going to the theatre so much, but loves reading? Then we recommend a subscription to our printed newspaper, which is published four times a season. It costs CHF 20 (excl. postage) and you can order it directly at zeitung@gessnerallee.ch.