Peoples Tales: Rhine-Main Archipelago

Workshop 2: Deep Looking

In May 2026, a two-day workshop will examine the institutional structures of refugee and migrant reception centres in Hesse as anti-humanist and inhumane phenomena. The focus will be on the critical analysis of specific spaces and their development from 1990 to the present day.

The aim is to understand these places not only as administrative institutions but also as specific spaces of social, political, and legal practices. The latter play a significant role in experiences of marginalisation. Using selected examples, the structures, functions, and spatial configurations of reception centres are examined and related to migration policy developments. Particular attention is given to how these spaces have changed since 1990, especially between 2010 and 2025, and which continuities or ruptures can be observed.

The workshop combines artistic research on space and migration with interdisciplinary perspectives. Its goal is to develop a deeper understanding of the historical and contemporary dynamics of these reception centres, as well as to discuss strategies for strengthening human rights standards and making alternative approaches visible. The workshop works on alternative narratives and memory practices that counteract the systematic dehumanisation of these experiences and foster new forms of resistance and solidarity.

Key sites of investigation are the Oberursel camp, where structural continuities and transformations are analysed, and the Geschwister-Scholl schools in Offenbach and Wiesbaden, where the repurposing of educational spaces as accommodation facilities is examined.