Becoming a Storyteller. Methodologies in Collaborative, Activist, Artistic, and Archival Work in Remembering

This essay explores the methodologies embedded in the collaborative, activist, artistic, and archival practices of commemorative initiatives addressing those affected by right-wing terror and police violence in Germany. Cana Bilir-Meier introduces her aunt Semra Ertan, a poet, worker, and political activist against racism. Bilir-Meier discusses her role as a cultural mediator in caring for and sharing Ertan’s literature and life story. The piece explores the role of storytelling as an artistic practice and how to create spaces that focus on hope and desire as forms of resistance. Bilir-Meier elaborates on her family’s story, the idea of listening as a political act, and the importance of sharing other stories to create collectivity within artistic practices. Through collaborative projects like art in public spaces, poetry readings, sound installations, film screenings, and exhibitions, individual and collective remembrance becomes an act of solidarity.