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 Rebuilding historically challenged relationships- Art Education as a medium to connect the Jewish and German community in Germany by exploring the project Atelier Eastend 

 

The purpose of my research was to explore restorative justice in the field of art education as a tool of urgency to rebuild bridges and to reconnect communities with a shared challenging history. My thesis reflected on the present relationship between self-identified Jews in relationship to Germans in Germany, 70 years after the Holocaust. 

The project Atelier Eastend, an art studio in Frankfurt am Main for artists with special needs, was one of the first attempts to establish collaboration between those two communities. The three stakeholders are the Jewish Community in Frankfurt, the Central Welfare for Jews in Germany (ZWST) and the German social agency International Union (IB Behindertenhilfe). Previously I had spent two years as a social worker with the project.

For my thesis, I returned to Atelier Eastend to engage the following questions: How can the principle of restorative justice be used in an art educational environment to rebuild relationships between communities who suffer from a difficult past? What does this particular collaboration need to feel safe and grow stronger? Celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2016- what made the project successful and how can this knowledge be fostered for other similar projects? What role did the medium art play in the project?
 

My action research took place over a week at the Atelier Eastend, the Westend synagogue in Frankfurt and at a café, where I interviewed five former colleagues who presently work for the Atelier Eastend. My participant’s professional backgrounds are in art teaching, art education and pedagogics. The qualitative interviews examined their view of the project concept, their individual role and project participation, asking them to both verbally and creatively respond to the collaboration. Subsequently, I have turned to their replies to explore these issues through autoethnography, self- reflection and artistic practice.

Throughout my research, art as a process became a vehicle for the formation of a new community. Having no official policies as part of a foundation was critical to the project's ability to create an artistic free space. The participants shared interests in creativity appeared to be the greatest motivation for participation, rather than historical or political interests.