Mar’a’yeh: Entropy
With Entropie, LABA Berlin and the German Islam Academy are continuing their joint project Mar’a’yeh, an interreligious and intercultural residency program at Künstlerhaus Bethanien.
Based on LABA’s understanding of a cultural laboratory, Mar’a’yeh opens up a space for artistic practice, critical reflection and shared learning. The title Mar ‘ a’yeh is derived from the Levantine-Arabic word for “mirror” (مرايه), which also contains the Hebrew word “Mar’a” (מַראָה) with the same meaning. Together they form a mirror image – an endless reflection: the words are inextricably interwoven, and yet their connection remains hidden to the untrained eye. In this context, art is understood as a mirror that makes the complex multi-layered nature of social reality visible – beyond simplification or reduction of complexity, division or categorization. Mar’a’yeh aims to question common perceptions of Jewish and Muslim realities in German society, open up new perspectives and promote empathy.
The program invites artists with a Jewish or Muslim background living in Berlin to engage in a year-long process of exchange, artistic collaboration and joint reflection. The focus is on the concept of entropy – understood as a space of movement of disorder, transformation and resilience within Jewish and Muslim worlds of experience. Over the course of the year, the fellows will engage intensively with Jewish and Islamic texts, which will serve as a source of inspiration for their artistic practice and dialog with one another. The program is accompanied by an interdisciplinary team of artists, academics and practitioners from both traditions, who provide impulses, enable critical feedback and support the process.
Finally, an exhibition and performance series will take place at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in winter 2025/26, presenting the artworks created during the residency program and bringing them into a new dialogue.