That was the SOMA Workshop Festival 2023 in Munich
A visit to Munich's creative quarter: on Saturday, December 9, 2023, the Center for Interdisciplinary Spatial and Cultural Work ZIRKA in Munich was transformed into a creative venue when the SOMA collective presented its first interdisciplinary workshop festival. The day promised a wealth of inspiration, creativity and exchange for participants of different ages and interests.
Serving the community: The festival offered a wide range of workshops and courses, from product design and street photography to meditation and non-violent communication. The hosts, including experts Dominik Schatz from Lichtgestalten, ceramicist Mariana Moreli and choreographer and dancer Chris-Pascal Englund, guided the participants through the various sessions and created an open and inspiring atmosphere.
Wherever the spirit of a vibrant community breathes, coapp can't be far away: Our co-founder Hardy Seiler would have been right in the middle of it all had the rail strike not thwarted his plans to hold two workshops with Sonja Pham on the topics of community economy and collaboration. So both sessions only took place with Sonja Pham.
Together, the participants worked out the ideal ideas of a community economy, explored their own strengths and characteristics and finally developed the prototype of their own workshop project in a short collaborative session.
How do we want to work in the future? How do we measure good collaboration? What strengths, but perhaps also weaknesses, do I bring to a collaboration? The participants had a lively discussion about these and other questions.
What was particularly striking was the wide range of interests and different backgrounds that all workshop participants brought with them. Some with professions from the creative industry, but also students, an ophthalmologist, an educator, a carpenter and a psychologist. Discussing the potential of communities with people from a wide range of disciplines was very enriching.
In addition, the spacious, expansive halls of ZIRKA proved to be the perfect setting for the workshop festival. The workshops took place in Hall 1 and the surrounding studios, ranging from open workshops to intimate coaching atmospheres. In Hall 2, visitors had the opportunity to socialize at the café and bar, take part in a wine tasting and stroll through exhibitions. This hall was accessible to both workshop and regular SOMA ticket holders.
The day was rounded off with culinary courses for lunch and dinner, including Neapolitan pizza baking and an exquisite 5-course lunch. The festival ended with a live concert accompanied by a mesmerizing light mapping performance by light figures and their workshop participants.
If you disregard the hustle and bustle surrounding the rail strike and the blatant onset of winter - the festival site was still closed due to the weather until shortly before the event began - the SOMA Workshop Festival was a complete success - both for the participants and the workshop leaders, who invited creative development and exchange. The variety of workshops, the expertise of the hosts (thank you Team SOMA!) and the open atmosphere made the festival an unforgettable event for everyone involved.
Fortunately, a next edition of the SOMA Workshop Festival is already planned for 2024 - it already promises a continuation of this unique community experience.
All photos: Mali Wychodil
