Dear Stranger

When was the last time you really talked to a stranger? How often do you talk with people you don’t know? Do you sometimes struggle with how to start a conversation?
Inspired by encounters across different countries, we're hosting a workshop built around one question: how do you connect with someone you don't know?

The workshop draws from a toolkit we're developing throughout this residency, a practical, experimental and playful guide to building connections, talking to strangers, and feeling a little less alone in the world. We'll explore games, small experiments, and the underrated power of small talk.

Whether you're a natural at meeting new people or working up the courage: Bring your curiosity and experiences and who knows, maybe we befriend someone who we did not know yet.

Participant Numbers: 10

Radio is everywhere, in the car, in restaurants, at work, at home. Since its invention it did not lose any popularity but to the contrary, more than ever radio stations pop-up across the world, bringing news, stories and music into people’s houses and ears, building communities and connections through sound. Radio broadcasting is connected to power, it has historically often been abused by the ones in power. But the medium of radio has also a long tradition of subversive use, giving marginalized communities a voice and tool to organize.

In the first part of the workshop we will introduce you to radio as a tool. You will learn how to make your own radio show. We will give you a short introduction into the medium and its history, introduce you to the basics hardware setup and help you design your own radio show and your first live broadcast. In order to partake in this workshop you don’t have to bring anything as we have the equipment. During this part we will work in groups.
The second part of the workshop will be broadcasting your own radio show during our radio event from the 10-12th of June. 6 till 10 pm.

Participant Numbers: 10
Part 1 Monday 8th of June, 18:00 till 21:30
Duration 3,5 hours

Part 2 during Radio event 10-12th of June, exact time and date can be discussed.

This workshop is part of a artistic project:

Sophie and Daniël work at the intersection of radio-making, storytelling, role-play and the organising of social spaces. This May they will travel from Hamburg to Athens by train, carrying a mobile radio setup and one central question: How to connect with strangers?
Along the way they will experiment with different ways of making connections. From small games and ice breakers to informal interviews, each prompt becomes its own episode. Together these episodes form a series and the thread running through the whole project, exploring what makes an unexpected conversation possible. The radio functions as a conversation tool, documentation device and publishing platform.
During a three day broadcast they will share their findings and reflections on loneliness, the character of the stranger, and on the small gestures that enable and enhance connections between people. The broadcast days intertwine with workshops built around the toolkit they are developing: a practical, experimental and playful guide on how to build connections, talk to strangers and feel less lonely in this world.