Aman Aman — The garden party

Off to Athens! That’s where the Habibi Kiosk is launching Aman Aman: a transnational cultural project that traces shared stories of migration, exile, work, solidarity and cultural creation. Aman Aman moves between Athens, Berlin, Izmir, Thessaloniki, Munich, Istanbul and beyond. Rather than a linear historical narrative, the project takes a polycentric, long-term and relational approach: Stories, sounds and images circulate, overlap and are reactivated across places and formats. From the haunting voice of Roza Eskenazi, through diasporic friendships and alliances between Greek and Turkish workers in Kreuzberg in Giorgos Karypid’s film, to the post-Ottoman laments at ‘Cafe Amans’ in New York. Or looking at Munich, which, with a Greek-Anatolian population of around 9%, is regarded by many as the world capital of Greek-Turkish friendship! For it was through shared experiences of labour migration, particularly since 1961, that people came together who had been separated by the tragic course of history. Aman Aman facilitates cultural imaginaries that challenge ethnocentric narratives between Greece, Turkey and Germany.

For example, in the form of a garden party. In Athens, the Habibi Kiosk is presenting projects by people who have been living out this friendship in Munich for decades. At the heart of the event is a garden adaptation of the successful musical lecture performance *Biz – Wir – εμείς* (Münchner Kammerspiele 2023) by Tuncay Acar and Costas Gianacacos. In this “commented Greek-Turkish friendship match”, the traumatic events of the 1920s are explored from different perspectives. For between the terms “Asia Minor Catastrophe” and “Turkish War of Independence” lie worlds and wounds. And where there are wounds, music helps: Biz – Wir – εμείς has its own band, made up of musicians from both Greek and Turkish backgrounds. The result is a shared musical richness that is part of Munich’s nightlife — yet is rarely talked about.

The author Anna Irmgard Jäger is from Bremen. As her name might suggest, she comes from a Greek family. She will be reading from her semi-autobiographical novel “Ganz normale Tage” (Marta Press 2023) from the perspective of her protagonist Erika: the child of mad parents who eventually goes mad herself. Her mother is schizophrenic and bipolar; her father an alcoholic. Between Greece and Germany, Athens and Bremen, a constant back and forth. Growing up in the cigarette smoke of her parents; a sip of beer to help her sleep when “Lalelu” doesn’t work. For Erika, her troubling childhood consisted of perfectly normal days. Anna Irmgard Jäger believes that every soul has a purpose. Hers is to share stories: There is a way out of the darkness, to a life that is still worth living.

Wherever Sebastian Reier, alias Booty Carrell, is, there is usually a sea of records. It has to do with music — but they also tell stories. In Vinyltalk, Sebastian meets, among others, his childhood friends Iosif Angelidis and Salih Karagöz. They grew up together in Istanbul. But they were separated in the mid-1970s during the turmoil of the Cyprus War, when Iosif’s Greek family, like so many others, moved to Greece. Later, much later, the two close friends chose the same extraordinary profession: they became record shop owners, in Istanbul and Athens. And they turned their respective shops into platforms for lively cultural exchange.

There is also an installation by the Athenian artist Iria Vrettou, situated on the balcony of the Goethe-Institut. Here, philosophical fragments, personal dreams and inner struggles flutter in the Athenian evening breeze.
Also joining us is our dynamic director Gina Penzkofer. And Frangiskos Kakoulakis from the Kammerspiele ensemble. Two hearts beat in his chest: one German and one Greek. Or is it not that complicated for him at all? In the roof garden of the Goethe-Institut Athens, we’ll have the chance to discuss this with him.

In the run-up to the garden party, an online workshop will take place with the Athenian author and publisher Anastasia Pappa. The results will be presented in the garden: the six twin towns of the Aman-Aman project will be connected here through text, narrative and memory.

Yet, beyond the grand narrative, the appeal of a garden party lies in its intimate scale: stories are exchanged from table to table, divides are bridged, common ground is discovered, people are met, and connections are forged. With a bit of luck, we’ll be sent off into the night feeling enriched.

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Mehmet Birinci

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Mehmet Birinci

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MRT Arts

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Julian Baumann

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Lidia Monge

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Lidia Monge

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Sigrid Reinichs

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