Demokratie bauen!

Alzenau: Die Konferenz der Tiere. Partizipativer Workshop in der Stadtbibliothek

The “Konferenz der Kinder” is an oratorio for 150 children and an instrumental ensemble, composed by Arne Giehoff, who is based in Darmstadt. It was premiered on 18 August 2019 at the Frauenkirche in Dresden and will be staged as a new production in the FrankfurtRheinMain region as part of WORLD DESIGN CAPITAL 2026.

The project is conceived as a free retelling and staged adaptation of Erich Kästner’s work "Die Konferenz der Tiere" ("The Conference of the Animals"). Kästner’s passionate appeal for children’s rights and against war, violence and ignorance is more relevant than ever.

“Konferenz der Kinder” is an interdisciplinary project that offers children a variety of ways to engage with the themes of democracy, war, displacement and flight. At the start of the project, the work is not yet complete; instead, it allows the children to complete it through their own creative work (improvisation, composition) based on an in-depth exploration of the content over the course of the project. To this end, a multi-day artistic and educational workshop will take place at Alzenau Municipal Library, realising this as a participatory collaborative effort.