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The seminar, organized by Projekthaus Potsdam Babelsberg (Germany), was held from 3 to 12 September, 2011 in Potsdam. This is the second stage of the pilot program and a logical continuation of the training course "satire and humor against contemporary fascism”, which took place in Voronezh (11/28-12/05 2010).

The activists of anti-fascist groups and human rights organizations, young artists and directors met to share their experience in working with humor and satire against authoritarian ideologies. The event was held in the format of open space, where each participant was responsible for a thematic block and its moderation.

The seminar presented recent practice of satire and humor against authoritarianism in movies, comic books, public events and information campaigns. In particular, the project “Respect” was presented. The project was planned to unite artists from different countries so that they could draw comics about tolerance. The first such comics have been already created within the framework of the project.

During the seminar, the participants learned techniques of satire and humor, mechanisms of its action. It was important to understand which techniques can be used effectively in anti-authoritarian thinking. In this context, the issue of what the vector of humor should be aimed at initiated a lot of debates. It is easier for people to laugh at somebody’s defects. In this connection, the concept of self-irony against authoritarianism appeared interesting. If we take into account that the authoritarian thought is natural for everybody, then it follows that people should be offered first to laugh at themselves.

The main difference of the second stage of the program was studying the context of the problem. It should be noted that the seminar itself was mostly held in Potsdam - the former residence of the Prussian royal family. During the special excursion the participants examined the origins of Prussian militarism, examples of satire and humor against it and the general historical context. The participants visited the Jewish Museum in Berlin, where they attended a lecture about the perception of Jews as a minority of the German Society of XIX-XX centuries and on its response to National Socialism. The participants also visited the Museum of the Wannsee Conference (Wannsee-Konferenz), where so-called "final solution of Jewish question" happened in 1942.  Traditionally, a discussion about the acceptability of the use of satire in the context of Holocaust remembrance became a prevailing theme.

Vitus Media,
YHRM Information Service