Cracks in the Walls: 25 Years After Berlin

A symposium of scholars and artists crossing cultural and intellectual borders, “Cracks in the Walls” presents a look at how the historic breaking down of the Berlin Wall has led to the creation of a problematic narrative: that a single act can represent or even repair decades or centuries of cultural divide. The panel examines three powerful cultural walls (Berlin, Israel/Palestine, and the US/Mexico border) and how acts of performance, both constructive and destructive, can illustrate and animate less tangible rifts. With participation from members of the IAS Collaborative on Brecht, the Department of Theater Arts, and Combatants for Peace, an alliance of Israeli and Palestinian ex-combatants who use theater as a tactic for resisting the Israeli Occupation. The symposium also includes Dakota artist Mona Smith, to provide perspective on the creation of state walls and borders.

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