Past workshops, shows and events

• Tuesday 16th - Sunday 21st December, 2025
• Near Berlin
• Organized by Nono Gigsta and friends, myself included
• Set base price to cover costs, additional contributions on donation basis

PROGRAM: The silence starts Tuesday evening and finishes Sunday at midday. There will be meditation instructions, dharma talks, group activities and shared meals from 7.30 until 21.30 each day. There will be a 6-hour dance music ritual on Saturday at the end of the day.

LOCATION: This is a silent meditation and dance retreat happening in a seminarhaus approx.

1h30 min drive from Berlin and 2h30 by public transport.

COSTS: The mattresses and pillows are provided and you will only be asked to bring comfortable clothes and toiletries.

The price of the retreat is 245e including 5 nights of accommodations and 3 meals per day with the option to donate for the teachings.

TEACHERS: There will be meditation instructions, talks and interviews by and with Noon Baldwin with support from Laura Toropainen.

• Wednesday, Dec. 3rd, 14:00-17:00
• in person @ Awareness Akademie
• FREE! Registration required. Register via awareness@clubcommission.de
• Co-designed/facilitated wIth Bryony Beynon

“Is it a disagreement, conflict or abuse? Is this punishment, or are those consequences? How do we hold slippery terms like ‘accountability’ to account and resist their weaponisation and capture, moving away from disposability culture whilst staying rooted in our values? What mindsets, structures and practices can support us in navigating the stormy waters of interpersonal harm in more discerning, caring and less destructive ways?

We’ll critically explore the current ways these tough topics are thought about in our nightlife spaces and groups, address challenges and examine ways we discern between hurt, harm, conflict and abuse, as well as useful models, protocols and lenses for navigating, addressing and de-escalating different types of dynamics.”

• Saturday, Nov. 1st, 11:15-13:30
• in person as part of Unframe Festival
• I’ll be co-hosting with Bryony Beynon, who was invited to do this workshop

“How do we develop more comradely conflict cultures in our political groups and communities? What do we need to both prevent and address interpersonal harm in proportionate, caring and non-punitive ways? This practical, interactive discussion-based workshop explores Marxist feminist approaches to personal and collective accountability rooted in concepts of principled struggle, with takeaway tools and insights based on decades of frontline gender-based violence prevention work, transformative justice practice and capacity building in social movements.“

• Wednesday, Oct. 29th, 16:30-19:00
• In person at Cashmere Radio
• Hosted by Club Commission e.V., “Free Open Air” initiative
• FREE! Register Here

“Collective organizing — full of joys, full of...headaches. For anyone with experience living, working or organizing in collective structures, you know that this type of collaboration comes with a unique set of challenges.

So what are some concrete things we can implement to work together more sustainably, with more care? How can we continue to recognize and value each other's humanity, even and especially when the times get tough?

In this conversation-based interactive workshop, we will together explore practical tools, strategies and frameworks for meeting and working together in more sustainable ways. Some topics we will touch on: access, embodiment, intentions, consensus, and emergent strategy. The format of the workshop taps into the lived experiences of participants in the space, and the facilitator will also share some beloved practices from their own experiences working as part of and alongside many self-organized collective structures through the years.

Come prepared to learn, experiment, and maybe even have a little fun.

The workshop is free of charge. The number of participant spots is limited.

An event by the Free Open Air Initiative at the Club Culture Hub of Clubcommission Berlin e.V., funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion, Musicboard Berlin GmbH, and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) – "Strengthening Innovation Potential in Culture - INP III."

• Berlin, in person
• Together with Alice Priori and Civil Society Forum
• Guests include Arjunraj, Rafia Shahnaz and Samira Iraki
• Sliding scale pricing with a few full scholarships available

This course by the Civil Society Forum’s Berlin Hub initiative is an invitation to reimagine facilitation as a practice of belonging, where differences don’t divide us but instead open space for authentic transformation.

This course is for civil society actors — activists, organizers, artists, journalists, educators, community leaders, neighborhood and land defenders — who are on the frontlines of the overlapping crises of our times.

• October 13, 20, 27 and November 3
• Berlin, in person — part of the amazing 90mil art school
• Together with Bryony Beynon aka BB
• Sliding scale pricing with a few solidarity spots available

Is it a disagreement, conflict or abuse? Is this punishment, or are those consequences? How do we hold slippery terms like ‘accountability’ to account and resist their weaponisation and capture, moving away from disposability culture whilst staying rooted in our values? What structures and shared lenses can help us navigate difficult interpersonal situations in more discerning, caring and less destructive ways?

We’ll critically address the current ways these tough topics are thought about in our spaces, movements and groups, explore the differences between hurt, harm, conflict and abuse, as well as useful models, protocols and mindsets for navigating and addressing different types of dynamics.

This is a four-part workshop, and each session builds on the previous sessions. The sessions will be interactive and conversation-based, with handouts and a digital drive of further reading and resources for everyone who takes part.

• Saturday, December 12th, 20:00-23:00+
• Hosted in person at migas listening bar in Wedding, Berlin

Will be playing some beautiful records at this beautiful space with incredible sound, yummy olives and delicious wine.

For a small taste of the types of things I might play (but who knows?), here’s the set I played there in 2025:

A three-day, in-person training exploring group facilitation as a radical relational practice — helping us navigate big conversations and complex collaborations with courage and care.

• Mon 12 Oct, Mon 19 Oct, Mon 26 Oct, Mon 2 Nov
• 100-300€ sliding scale, some free spots avail (see event page)

Is it a disagreement, conflict or abuse? Is this punishment, or are those consequences? How do we hold slippery terms like ‘accountability’ to account and resist their weaponisation and capture, moving away from disposability culture whilst staying rooted in our values? What structures and shared lenses can help us navigate difficult interpersonal situations in more discerning, caring and less destructive ways?

We’ll critically address the current ways these tough topics are thought about in our spaces, movements and groups, explore the differences between hurt, harm, conflict and abuse, as well as useful models, protocols and mindsets for navigating and addressing different types of dynamics.

This is a four-part workshop, and each session builds on the previous sessions. The sessions will be interactive and conversation-based, with handouts and a digital drive of further reading and resources for everyone who takes part.

In session one, we will deep dive into the mechanics and dynamics typical of many so-called conflicts. We’ll explore what happens in our (collective) bodies when harm happens, and talk about some tools for dealing with these dynamics that strive to break rather than reinforce the very systems of violence and punishment that we are often organising against.

In sessions two and three, we will look in more detail at some practical structures and skills needed for moving through the discomfort, pain and dislocation that can come up when harm happens. We’ll get a bit more specific about dealing with situations "beyond" conflict — harm and abuse — and start to explore some of the possible frameworks for community accountability processes for groups who work together over time. We’ll go deeper with some of the frameworks we’ve introduced, using practice scenarios to apply, play with and question the frameworks offered from the first two sessions.

For the last session, we’ll workshop some real-life (optionally anonymised) situations from some of the workshop participants, aiming to get/give active feedback from the group on past or active situations, applying the learnings from the previous sessions to take back to their contexts.

All sessions are co-designed and co-facilitated sensitively by very experienced trainers and aim to equip participants with an experience-based set of tools for supporting stronger, safer communities.

“The Malta Festival of Ideas returns with A Good Night Out, an evening that will reimagine nightlife in Malta.

Local and international guests come together for conversations on culture and community, then the space becomes the dancefloor, with music performances that will honour the local scene.

11 September 2026Hide Out, PembrokeFree entry

Organized by Culture Directorate Malta

In partnership with Arts Council Malta, Oracles Productions and Tuff Drinks.

Supported by HideOut, Hole In The Wall, Good Night Out, and Underground Sound.

Program and line-up revealed very soon!” ”Metamorphosis.

This year, The Malta Festival of Ideas explores the power of creativity and critical thinking as catalysts for transformation.

Under the theme Metamorphosis: transformative cultures, for a more sustainable, just and harmonious future, we open a space for dialogue around the cultures shaping our society and the possibilities for meaningful change.

From the evolving night-time economy to health and safety practices, artistic rights and the realities of those working across different music genres, this edition brings together different voices, perspectives and ideas to question, connect, and imagine what comes next.

Transformation begins with an idea.”

More info coming very very soon!

• Wednesday, 16. December, 14:00-16:00
• Come through to the studio or tune in at refugeworldwide.com

40 years of being alive edition!

• Wednesday, 18. November, 14:00-16:00
• Come through to the studio or tune in at refugeworldwide.com

• Wednesday, 21. October, 14:00-16:00
• Come through to the studio or tune in at refugeworldwide.com

• Wednesday, 16. September, 14:00-16:00
• This one will be a pre-record since I’ll be on the road! Tune in at refugeworldwide.com

Tune in at https://refugeworldwide.com/

aequa Radio aims to spotlight people, groups and movements who are worldbuilding amid the intersecting, accelerating collapses of our time. Who are the ones helping us re-member our bodies as the literal body of the earth? Who are the ones midwifing new/old beautiful ways of being into this world, even as we try our best to topple empire and kick our addiction to modernity in the process? And what music and sounds are moving and will move us as we process these these changes?

For aequa Radio episode #50, I got to interview one of my heroes, also a dear friend and major influence on my life and creative practices — Nono Gigsta.

Nono, “half human, half crocodile,” is also a dancer, researcher, campaigner, grounded traveler, people-gatherer, radio host, zine-maker, meditator, artist, dj, lover of beauty, maker of music and sounds, barker-of-bad-jokes-into-the-party-microphone, and beloved pal with whom I have had the extreme honor of falling in friend-love while we shared a home city of Berlin. On a recent trip to visit them in their new home of Marseille — a multiplicitous city in the south of France that hugs the Mediterranean Sea — we had a conversation about the threads that weave together their tapestry of creative/life practices.

In this little missive from the intimacy of Nono’s living room floor, we talk about their work across radio, music, archive/research, event organizing and mobility justice (all for lack of a more expansive or inclusive terms). She also generously shared some music for the show, all of which is linked in the tracklist below, so you can support the artists.

Thank you Nono for taking the time to share all of this with us!

FOLLOW & SUPPORT NONO’S JOURNEYING: https://fictionsandreflections.com/

LISTEN TO MUSIC+SOUNDS PRESENTED BY NONO GIGSTA: https://soundcloud.com/gigstab

BUY MUSIC from today's show, tracklists always at:  https://www.buymusic.club/user/sarj

LINKS REFERENCED IN THE INTERVIEW:

• Nono’s recent radio show about Marseille: https://soundcloud.com/rinse_france/useless-seconds-nono-gigsta-19
• Nono’s radio show about the Think Break
  Cashmere Radio Fictions #10 with Gigsta - The Think Break Special – Cashmere Radio
• “From the Bottoms Up” zine referenced in the interview Embed Dropbox
• Stay Grounded, organization Nono campaigns with https://stay-grounded.org/
• Atmosfair, where you can calculate carbon impacts (while knowing this is not a solution, it helps to grow awareness of our impacts) https://www.atmosfair.de/en/offset/flight/
• Nono Gigsta episode of the “Shifting Basslines” podcast, “Grounded Travel On Space Ways” https://soundcloud.com/krstnkaleidoscoping/grounded-travel-on-space-ways?in=krstnkaleidoscoping/sets/shifting-basslines

Refuge Worldwide resident Sarj will be passing through Brussels, and bringing with them the legacy of aequa Radio, as well as their experience in conflict transformation within cultural and social movement spaces and groups.

aequa Radio aims to spotlight ideas, people, groups, and movements that are worldbuilding amid the intersecting, accelerating collapses of our time. Who are the ones helping us re-member our bodies as the literal body of the earth? Who are the ones midwifing new/old beautiful ways of being into this world, even as we try our best to topple empire and kick our addiction to modernity in the process? And what music is moving and will move us as we process these these changes?

In this episode, I hope to talk to some local movement organiser about how conflict — and the care for it — show up in their spaces, and their dreams for how it might look different.

As ever, the talks will be soundtracked by music that tells stories alive in the episode's theme.

After years of watching the far-right organize and gain power in Europe and beyond, we have to continue to ask ourselves: how can those of us standing against authoritarianism in all its forms stick together against the systems that harm us all, even when we hurt each other? Especially in times of great repression, our movement’s resources, bodies and tempers tend to be stretched paper-thin. This often means that we not only end up harming each other more than we might in less repressive times, but also that our reactions to those harms might jump the quickest and often the most severe consequence, rather than the strategic or right-sized response.

On the long-term scale of organizing, if we are fighting for other worlds and ways of being in relation with other people and planet that we think are possible, how might we practice these worlds already within the contexts in which we are organizing?

In this workshop we’ll explore definitions of harm and its consequences in the context of movement and cultural organizing, as well as practical frameworks and tactics for dealing with different levels of conflict and harm in ways that strive not to reproduce the very violences we are fighting against.

This workshop is a politicized space, rooted in my own lineages and commitments. The space is is intended for folks who broadly identify with these ethics.

For everyone's safety,  please do not join if you are sick.

SPROCKI 2026: SUMMER SOLSTICE | JUNE 19 - 21

After a very special sold out 2025 edition and an overwhelming amount of positive feedback, SPROCKI returns for another summer weekender in Mecklenburg, taking place over the summer solstice weekend.

SPROCKI remains what it has always been: a community-run 3-day micro-festival of music, dancing, and friendly faces. Small crowds, big feelings, stacked lineup.

📅 Quick Facts:

• ⛰ Feldberger Seenlandschaft
• ⭐ 199 capacity
• 🎧 2 stages
• 🍽️ 4 meals includeds (Friday dinner, Saturday brunch & dinner, Sunday brunch)
• ⛺ Bring your own tent or van

I’m looking forward to playing on Saturday afternoon!

• June 4th-6th
• In person in Berlin

I’m very excited to be an apprentice learning from very-experienced AOH practitioners at the upcoming training in Berlin.

Short info from the event website:

This is a call to Relational Responsibility

The Art of Hosting and Harvesting Meaningful Conversations is an approach to leadership that scales up from the personal to the systemic using personal practice, dialogue, facilitation and co-creation of collective intelligence to address complex challenges.

We will introduce mental models and theory on complexity and practice collective leadership through inviting participants to step into hosting and harvesting during the training. You are invited to bring your ideas, projects and challenges to work on, co-create with others and find ways to apply the learning in your own contexts after the training. We are hosting a participatory learning and practicing spaces for meeting people and to learn from their stories and experiences. We will dive into new forms of leadership, based on Living Systems, where interconnection, collaboration and self-organising around purpose can lead to collective wellbeing.

For the full call, head here.

• Monthly, March 22nd, April 26th, May 24th, June 28th
• Online, with option for a couple in-person meetups in Berlin
• Sliding scale from €70 - €150 per monthly session, with some free spaces available.

A fresh-for-2026-realities redesign of the much-loved Life Architecture community learning and action series, this 4-month programme invites participants to collectively imagine and practice living in ways that are more alive with what we truly care about.

This will be a space to practice economies of mutuality and interdependence, rather than scarcity and individualism. Starting in March, will meet once a month for 4 months, with support prompts and resources for in-between.

Online using Zoom, plus a repository of online resources and a couple of Berlin-based meetups.

Subscribe at joycast.substack.com for updates

• Last Wednesdays of the month (mostly) from March - December, with a summer break in August
• Online, with a few in-person meetup options in Berlin
• From €75 - €150 per 2-hour session, monthly payments. Some free spots avail.
• Limited to 20 spaces

Building on last year’s Facilitating Change workshop series, based on feedback from the participants, I’ve decide to run a space which is focused not only on knowledge-transfer, but also on mutual support. Between 2020-2025 I worked within aequa Workshops Collective, and experienced firsthand the power of regularly sharing knowledge, skills, learnings, and just having a place to ask “What is the most ethical course of action?” in a group of trusted peers. Now that this experience has ended, I thought it could be useful to bring the benefits of that arrangement into a programme in which many of the amazing facilitators I know (and maybe some I don’t-yet-know) can share the same.

This will be a space to practice economies of mutuality and interdependence, rather than scarcity and individualism. Starting in March, will meet once a month through December, with a break in August.

Online using Zoom, plus a repository of online resources and a couple of Berlin-based meetups.

Subscribe at joycast.substack.com for updates

• Wednesday, 18. Feb, 14:00-16:00

Come through to the studio or tune in at refugeworldwide.com

• Four Tuesdays: March 31st, April 7th, April 14th, April 21st
• 18:30 - 21:30
• Sliding scale, with some free spaces. See ticket page for info
• Facilitated with BB

Is it a disagreement, conflict or abuse? Is this punishment, or are those consequences? How do we hold slippery terms like ‘accountability’ to account and resist their weaponisation and capture, moving away from disposability culture whilst staying rooted in our values? What structures and shared lenses can help us navigate difficult interpersonal situations in more discerning, caring and less destructive ways?

We’ll critically address the current ways these tough topics are thought about in our spaces, movements and groups, explore the differences between hurt, harm, conflict and abuse, as well as useful models, protocols and mindsets for navigating and addressing different types of dynamics.

This is a four-part workshop, and each session builds on the previous sessions. The sessions will be interactive and conversation-based, with handouts and a digital drive of further reading and resources for everyone who takes part.

In session one, we will deep dive into the mechanics and dynamics typical of many so-called conflicts. We’ll explore what happens in our (collective) bodies when harm happens, and talk about some tools for dealing with these dynamics that strive to break rather than reinforce the very systems of violence and punishment that we are often organising against.

In sessions two and three, we will look in more detail at some practical structures and skills needed for moving through the discomfort, pain and dislocation that can come up when harm happens. We’ll get a bit more specific about dealing with situations "beyond" conflict — harm and abuse — and start to explore some of the possible frameworks for community accountability processes for groups who work together over time. We’ll go deeper with some of the frameworks we’ve introduced, using practice scenarios to apply, play with and question the frameworks offered from the first two sessions.

For the last session, we’ll workshop some real-life (optionally anonymised) situations from some of the workshop participants, aiming to get/give active feedback from the group on past or active situations, applying the learnings from the previous sessions to take back to their contexts.

All sessions are co-designed and co-facilitated sensitively by very experienced trainers and aim to equip participants with an experience-based set of tools for supporting stronger, safer communities.

https://bigbeefandbeyond.cc/

• Friday, February 13th, 14:00-17:00
• Free, limited spaces
• Hosted by Neo Seefried at Village Berlin, Kurfürstenstraße 31/32, 10785 Berlin

Radical Empathy

Queer lives are shaped by contradictions – between belonging and exclusion, visibility and erasure, intimacy and alienation. Instead of suppressing them, this series invites us to hold, quarrel with, and even find joy in their friction.

Calling in Care When Harm Happens

In this session, we’ll explore some of the ways that our bodies react in moments of rupture, as well as strategies for how we can activate our values to guide our responses when the going gets tough . We’ll learn a simple care protocol that can be applied when painful moments arise in our relationships — whether we are the one experiencing harm, perpetuating it, or witnessing it (or, as so often happens, some combination of the three).

Full info on the Village Berlin website.

• February 20th, my set is 16:00-17:30
• Refuge Worldwide studio, Niemetzstr. 1
• FREE - fundraiser event

From RefugeWorldwide.com:

“On February 20th and 21st, we will be hosting Dig Deep, a charity record fair and two-day hangout together with Resident Advisor. Alongside the pop-up record fair join us for DJ sets from our stations residents, highlighting some of the donor labels and records available, as well as RA UNLOCKED: Labels—a series of talks offering a behind-the-scenes look into working in the music industry. The programme will feature discussions and radio broadcasts focusing on how to start your own independent label and working in the industry.

Confirmed label donors include OYE Records, BBE, Field Records, !K7, Four Tet, Juno Records, Melodies International, Kynant Records, Clone Records, Rubadub and over 150 more that will be announced in the coming weeks.

We’ve partnered with the Analogue Foundation and Audio-Technica, with Audio-Technica providing the listening stations. All proceeds will go to War Child, a charity supporting children impacted by conflict and displacement.

Entry to Dig Deep Berlin is free, with talks starting at 13:30 on the Saturday (21st), and the record fair open from 11:00 to 20:00 on both days.

Previous editions of Dig Deep have taken place in cities such as London, Leeds and Amsterdam, and the initiative has raised over £35,000 for War Child. We're partnering with DHL for the donation process, with the firm offering free shipping. If you'd like to donate, you can do so here.”

• Dayofweek, Date, Time
• Location info
• Pricing info

Description.

Description.

• Saturday, March 28th, 10:00-17:00
• in person at Refuge Worldwide, Berlin
• In the spirit of reciprocity, participation is on a donation basis. Registration required.

A gathering of socially engaged cultural workers and allies to practice a care protocol that maps needs and resources, fostering mutual aid. The space encourages awareness, generosity and exchange, connecting people across adjacent struggles to share skills, knowledge and support while collectively sustaining justice-oriented work.

• Sunday, March 15th, 12:30-18:30
• in person at arts of the working class offices, Neukölln, Berlin
• In the spirit of reciprocity, participation is on a donation basis. Registration required.

The workshop, Economies of Mutuality, is designed for participants to identify shared struggles and practice through two mutual aid protocols—Open Space and Carepods—building collective capacity for care and action. The space encourages awareness, generosity, and exchange, connecting people across adjacent struggles to share skills, knowledge, and support while collectively sustaining justice-oriented work.

• Sunday, March 1st, 18:30-19:20
• online via Zoom, one hour
• Donation-based

• Monday, March 2nd, 19:30
• online via Zoom, one hour
• No one turned away for lack of funds. Contact me if you need a free spot.

• Sunday, February 22nd, 15:00-18:00
• Hosted in person in Neukölln, with option to join digitally if needed for access.
• Sliding scale with some free spots available

Burnout and collective organizing too often go hand-in-hand. What practices can we call into our collective work to help us distribute labor and care based on the variable and varying needs and capacities within our group, and stay connected to our intention and ethics even when times get tough?

In this conversation-based interactive workshop, we will explore together tools, strategies and frameworks for working together more sustainably, ongoingly. In this context, sustainable can be taken to mean embodied, strategic, grounded-in-lineage, collapse-aware, compassionate and planning for the long fight.

We will see what emerges in conversation based on lived experiences in the room, and Sarj will also share a collection of better practices from their own experience working in and with collectives through their Collective Compass facilitation work. The conversation will be facilitated in English, and we can explore whisper translation options once we see the needs and offers available in the room.

Please come covid-negative-tested, and please do not join if you are sick.

• Thursday, February 5th, 20:00-23:00
• Hosted in person at migas listening bar in Wedding, Berlin

Will be playing some beautiful records with one of my favorite people at this beautiful space with incredible sound, yummy olives and delicious wine.

For a small taste of the types of things I might play (but who knows?), here’s the set I played there around this time last year:

🎟️

No registration needed, just join us!

• Sunday, January 18th, 2026
• 18:30-21:00
• In person at SOLID, Graefestr. 18
• Hosted by Viviana Dorfman
• More info on IG

“Come learn more about your favorite places in the city ;)

We all visit these spaces and often go to them when we are looking for spaces to organize or attend events. We are aware that they are important but how much do we recognize all the work behind the scenes? In a time when affordable rents are hard to find, when the cost of life is rising - making it harder to volunteer our time - how can we make sure Berlin, and many other cities around the world can keep these independent spaces to meet, play, organize and learn?

This research is based on the experiences of 10 different self-organized community spaces in Berlin.

The event will take place at a new community space, @solid.berlin

Hope to see you there 💫” Featuring:

@kulturlabor_trial_error

@cafe_karanfil_bar

@torhausberlin

@schillerwerkstatt.e.v

@frauenmachendruck

@_s_a_r_j_ // @_aequa_