Concept & presentation: Ralph Hammerthaler

Parallel societies, says Seyran Ateş, are the biggest problem of multicultural societies. In her opinion, they are strengthened by misunderstood tolerance, especially in the form of fundamentalist religious communities. The Muslim man claims to rule over the sexuality of women. Thus, self-determined female sexuality is the linchpin of debates, be it the headscarf ban, forced marriage, honour killings or domestic violence. Ateş emphasises the foundations of all coexistence - the constitution and human rights. The rules contained therein are indivisible.

Women's rights activist Seyran Ateş is regarded as one of the brightest and most outspoken voices in this field, which is why she has long been threatened and attacked. At a young age, she escaped an assassination attempt with serious injuries; she gave up her law firm when a recently divorced man violently attacked her client. The Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque she founded in Berlin-Moabit, which is open to joint prayer by men and women and welcomes queer people, is under pressure from fundamentalist forces. Awarded countless honours, Seyran Ateş talks about her fight against segregated worlds, as reflected in the titles of her books, Selam, Frau Imamin or Der Islam braucht eine sexuelle Revolution.

With the Parole Transparency series, we are setting a counterpoint to SECRETS throughout the entire season. Not every secret can be revealed, even if it were desirable. But we are convinced that a democratic society should have access to as much information as possible that concerns it. The fact that this is not the case - therein lies the explosive nature.translator read less