KnowledgeLab Berlin, June 2005

In June 2005 I took part in an event called Knowledge Lab staged by art historian Sarat Maharaj, singer Liu Sola, dancer Kofi Koko and the House of World Cultures in Berlin. There was a number of participants from all over the world and as an improvisor and researcher I was invited to participate actively. I did learn a lot from the experience, although not at all the things I had expected to gain. I became very frustrated with the loose structure of what was intended to investigate new grounds for sharing of knowledge - intellectual knowledge on equal terms with body knowledge. The fact that I was frustrated does not in any way mean that the attempt was unsuccessful. It may be that I was not ready or simply didn’t understand what was going on. It may also be that my own history, growing up during the 70’s, prevented me from participating fully in the event.

In any event I find the idea of knowledge free from language interesting. There is a strong tendency to look at information as something that can only be shared through text, preferrably written down. However true this may be it is a very occidental way of looking at the matter and Sarat Maharaj’s idea that a thought may just as well be expressed in movement or any other non-verbal expression is intriguing. He engourged us to leave the body versus mind dichotomy and embrace a post-cartesian approach. I believe this approach to be a prerequisite for a true global understanding - we (in the western world) must empathize that less verbally oriented cultures have just as much understanding of the great questions as we do even if this knowledge manifests itself in different ways.