Nation of Strangers

“We are all losing home in some way or another. We are all becoming homeless. We are all being unhomed.“

Starting from this thought, the Turkish writer Ece Temelkuran sets out in her new book Nation of Strangers – currently shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction – on a moving search for meaning: What does home mean in a world where belonging is becoming fragile? Shaped by her own experiences of exile and inspired by encounters along the way, Temelkuran writes with tenderness and poetry, yet also with remarkable precision, about loss, estrangement, and the question of what connects us.

For her, home is more than a place. It resides in the moral, political, and cultural foundations of how we live together. Yet these very foundations are increasingly beginning to falter.

At Neuköllner Oper, Temelkuran’s text becomes the basis for a multi-voiced evening: Actress Agnes Mann reads from the book, while the musicians and performers Mara Snip, Melentini, and Nesrine Belmokh respond with their own texts, songs, and compositions. Their personal perspectives meet the literary source material, creating a vibrant dialogue about origin, loss, and new forms of community.

Afterwards, the participating artists will join Ece Temelkuran in conversation about their approaches to the themes explored during the evening, inviting the audience to reflect further on the questions raised.

An evening weaving together reading, concert, and discussion – and an invitation to renegotiate the meaning of home.

WITH Nesrine Belmokh, Agnes Mann, Melentini, Mara Snip

CONCEPT Ece Temelkuran, Mick Besuch STAGE ADAPTATION Mick Besuch