not ready/nicht bereit
Lectures and Talks Talks & Workshops
Europe is rearming: conscription, increased defence spending and military mobility. Civil society is paying the price through cuts to education, social services and culture. In the face of war and geopolitical uncertainty, the transnational network of critical cultural practitioners, The Embassy, asks: What are those who do not wish to be fit for war doing? What can we learn from current protests? And how can we show solidarity with those who have no choice?
Introduce conscription, increase the defence budget, boost the arms industry, promote military mobility. Societies in Europe want to become combat-ready again. The price for this scheme, which the EU calls “Readiness 2030”, is being paid for by civil societies: cuts are being made to education, social services and culture, younger generations are being asked to “put their future at the service” of the state, and the media is once more making war jargon socially acceptable. In view of the threat posed by Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, the uncertain responsibilities of the alliance between the US and European countries, coupled with increasing authoritarian tendencies in some European governments has led to readjustments in the government spending of European countries. No one is actually talking about climate protection anymore. Ever-escalating war economies and colonial power games are costing global civil societies lives, land and culture.
But what are all those who do not want to be “ready” doing? And what are those who cannot even allow themselves to ask these questions doing? After its inception in the summer of 2025, The Embassy, a transnational network of critical artists from Europe++, will reconvene at Impulse 2026 to learn from those who do want to do things differently: be it schoolchildren on the streets protesting against conscription in Germany; students protesting against corruption, state arbitrariness and dysfunctionality in Serbia; or the many people here and there who sing against fascist politics in protest choirs– persistently, in unity, at volume.
The two days of The Embassy are thematically linked, but can also be attended separately. Festival-goers are welcome at any time.
cast
Contributions: Judith Balso (Paris), Marijana Cvetković (Belgrade), Déborah Brosteaux (Brussels), Boyka Boneva (Athens), as well as testimonials from the school strike movement in North Rhine-Westphalia and the student movement in Serbia
Concept & Organisation: Emre Abut (Duisburg), Johanna-Yasirra Kluhs (Duisburg), Locu Locuratolo (Essen), Julia Nitschke (Bochum), Antoine Palévody (Paris), Rika Sakalak (Bochum), Laura Strack (Rome)
With contributions by: Biljana Tanurovska-Kjulavkovski (Skopje), Rotterdam Presenta (Jan Rohwedder / Stine Hertel, Düsseldorf)
Further international ambassadors: Özge Açıkkol, Istanbul / Berlin; Georg Döcker, Vienna; ŠKART Collective (prota), Belgrade; Milo Jurani (tactical body), Brno; Julie Peyrat, Liège; Caroline Kapp (tactical body), Berlin; Martin Vongrej, Bratislava
credits
The event is part of the Impulse Festival for Performance, Theater & Dance. The 2026 Impulse Festival is organized and funded by the NRW KULTURsekretariat, in partnership with the cities of Düsseldorf, Bochum, Mülheim an der Ruhr, and Cologne, in cooperation with the FFT Düsseldorf, PRT Bochum, Ringlokschuppen Ruhr, and studiobühneköln. The festival is primarily funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Kunststiftung NRW, and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.