What is left?

re:connecting
what does it mean to me to approach Alevi community?

After a discriminatory utterance of one of the spectators after my performance, I started to research on Alevi sources to deepen my knowledge about Alevism. Yet it seemed to me there are different frictions and paths. The discrepancies made me even more confused.

Therefore I decided to talk to people, to members of Alevi diaspora and to ask them what do they practice; what are their values; where do they find empowerment; how do they bridge their beliefs and everyday life practices. Luckily after a while I met a person who told me to look deeply into the Deyiş – Alevi sung poems. Not to just consider their form but to really feel what they carry. Then I heard “Denn ich bin ein Mensch”. During the artistic research “Turna/Kranich” one of the Alevi performers brought this popular Deyiş and asked us to listen to it. She than asked what do we feel when we hear only the music. Later we read the lyrics and tried to understand them. It was not easy. But this Deyiş gave me the empowerment that I had not been finding anywhere else. I remember smiling after hearing it for the second time.

Denn ich bin ein Mensch

An der Schwelle

owning

turning

re:

connecting

discovering

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