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Instinct Residency Program
June 2026

Ahmed El Gendy

instinct and we are village welcome Amsterdam-based interdisciplinary artist Ahmed El Gendy to Berlin for an artistic residency in June.

During their time here, they will be developing three interconnected projects moving through themes of intimacy, agency, memory, and collective histories.
 

The residency will include with an iteration of Zero Encounters, a durational performance practice of sharing non-speaking time with strangers in their city; the development of a solo dance performance on the violence of maintaining borders through embodied personal narratives on power dynamics; and the recording and editing of interviews for an documentary installation highlighting a formative 2001 incident in Cairo through the collective memories of queer individuals who were adolescents at the time.

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Throughout the residency, Ahmed’s work will unfold through performance, conversation, and archival processes.

On June 27, we will open the space for a work-in-progress sharing of the ongoing research.

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Photo: Liza Wolters

* For those I have never met ...

this is an invitation to participate
in an artistic encounter.
I would like to spend one day with you.

I would be happy to hear from you if you are interested in participating.

Please contact me to arrange the dates on zeroencounters@ahmedelgendy.nl

Photo by Altaf Makhiawala, during our encounter - Amsterdam (2023)

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Zero Encounters
For those I have never met .

For this Berlin iteration, Ahmed invites Berlin residents he has never met to take part in a 24-hour encounter. From 12:00 noon to 12:00 noon the next day, they will silently accompany you as you move through your day and night—working, staying at home, going out, meeting others, commuting, resting. Ahmed will not speak or use gestural language; you are free to speak as you wish. The work asks what shifts when two strangers share time and space, and how the city’s rhythms, routines, and trajectories are experienced through the lives of those who inhabit it—while acknowledging that his presence may subtly alter them.

The encounters take place in Berlin between 13–19 June 2026 (six consecutive encounters). Each encounter begins with meeting at we.are.village at 12:00, and ends the following day at 12:00 with a return to the same location.

No audio or video will be recorded by the artist. Boundaries will be respected, and participation can be ended early at any time.

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instinct at we.are.village

Kurfürstenstraße 31/32
10785 Berlin

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