Sarj Workshops 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.

• 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.

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 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 15th, 15:00-18:00
• Hosted in person in Neukölln, with option to join digitally if needed for access.
• No one turned away for lack of funds. Contact me if you need a free spot.

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:

“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_