Safe Spaces as room for experiences: Exhibition and award ceremony

On the occasion of World Refugee Day, which is June 20, the KU is focusing on so-called "safe spaces". These are spaces, places or environments where people can feel safe and secure, especially if they have experienced discrimination or exclusion. In a multimedia exhibition that will be shown on June 28, students explain the concept of Safe Space and portray people who have experienced flight and migration. A special Safe Space project in Colombia will be awarded this year's Shalom Prize one day after the exhibition.

Colombia will be awarded this year's Shalom Prize one day after the exhibition.

How can spaces be created in which people can express themselves without fear and come together in an appreciative way? This summer semester, students addressed this question and the corresponding concepts in the service-learning seminar "Safe Spaces: Human rights empowerment in Eichstätt and Colombia". They developed various projects in collaboration with local and international partners: This resulted in portraits, interviews, field reports and creative reflections – including with people from Afghanistan and Mexico.

"The exhibition creates a space for reflection, dialog and personal debate", explains Martin Schneider, Professor of Moral Theology and Social Ethics at the School of Transformation and Sustainability. Together with Katharina Zöpfl, research associate at the Chair of Philosophy, he designed the service learning seminar. Schneider and Zöpfl found the work in the seminar very productive: "The path was cooperative and characterized by personal commitment – on the part of the students, the local partners and the international partners." Many interviews and encounters were incorporated into the exhibition. The KU team was supported by the Kreisjugendring Eichstätt, the Institute for Media Education JFF and the KU working group Shalom for Justice and Peace. The exhibition is an impressive example of service learning – learning through engagement that combines science and social responsibility, explains Katharina Zöpfl: "Philosophy thrives on exchange with others and the courage to question existing conditions."

The exhibition, which will be shown on Saturday, June 28, in the former Johanneskirche (Domplatz 18) and in a store in Ostenstraße 5 ("Pixel"), includes four stations: "Power of Diversity" tells the migration experiences of six people from Mexico. The articles, which are illustrated with portrait photographs, show how integration can succeed – and what role safe spaces play in this. The station "Eichstätt – Give Newcomers a Voice" introduces refugees from Afghanistan who have recently moved to Eichstätt. Visitors to the exhibition can hear their voices and experience their stories via QR codes. In the "un/safe ~ 20 min" part, the students offer an audio tour that brings the concept of safe space to life in three acts.

Casa Social Cultural y Memoria
"Casa Social Cultural y Memoria" project in Colombia

The fourth part of the exhibition is dedicated to the safe space project "Casa Social Cultural y Memoria" in Colombia. The facility in the port city of Buenaventura will be awarded the Eichstätt Shalom Prize this year. The "Casa Social Cultural y Memoria" in the Pacific port city of Buenaventura was founded in 2009 as an alternative to the violent life in the gang and drug crime environment. The place has become a symbol of peace, a reference for children, young people, women, African-American and ecological groups, explains the Shalom Working Group, which awards the most highly endowed human rights prize in Germany and selects an institution or peace activist as the winner every year. "Leaders of social movements meet on the Casa's premises, where courses and projects in the field of political education are held. Children and young people in particular should be shown alternatives to violence”, says the Shalom working group. 

On the occasion of World Refugee Day, an extensive program with speeches, talks, live music, food and drinks will take place on Saturday, June 28 in the former Johannniskirche in Eichstätt between 4 and 8 p.m. In addition to the KU, Caritas, Malteser, Amnesty International, Kreisjugendring Eichstätt, the network "Demokratie leben", the Lions Club Eichstätt, the educational and social enterprise CJD and the Institute for Media Education JFF will also take part.

The award ceremony of the working group Shalom for Justice and Peace will take place on Sunday, June 29, in the KU Sommerresidenz. The ceremony will start at 4 p.m. On Monday, June 30, a benefit concert by UniMusik will also take place in the Holzersaal, starting at 8 p.m. The donations will go to the award-winning institution in Colombia.

More information on the Shalom Prize is available here.

More information on the exhibition Safe Spaces is available here.