Grenzen/los? Perspektiven der dritten und vierten Generation Ost. Elise Landschek (DIE ZEIT) im Gespräch mit Ngoc Anh Nguyen, Juliane Meckert und Flor Fischer

People born shortly before or after the fall of the Berlin Wall often have little firsthand experience of the GDR. And yet, differences between East and West continue to shape their daily lives and work to this day.

In this event, East German cultural professionals will discuss where they still encounter these boundaries today. The discussion will focus on differences in income and access, on networks and representation, on exclusion—and also on racism in the context of the post-reunification era and the current shift to the right.

Personal experiences meet societal perspectives. You’ll gain insights into the realities of life shaped by both freedom and persistent barriers.

The discussion features social worker and musicianNgoc Anh Nguyen, theater artist and actress Juliane Meckert, and author and podcaster Flor Fischer. Elise Landschek will moderate.

The event kicks off the four-part series “Across Borders: Drawing, Tearing Down, and Shifting.” Around the 65th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall, we’ll focus on borders in history and the present, in society and in our own daily lives.

Participants

Juliane Meckert ( born in 1982 in Leipzig) is a freelance actress, director, and theater educator in Berlin. She studied acting at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and works both on and off stage. Her plays explore sociopolitical themes, including “Wir kriegen Euch Alle!” (2022, WESSER | MECKERT) about the “Baseball Bat Years.” Since 2024
, she has been working on the long-term performative-documentary project “VERRAT (AT)” about betrayal, trust, and the aftermath of the East German State Security (Stasi). It explores how surveillance, denunciation, and ideological loyalty shaped people’s lives and what traces they leave behind in society and politics today. Her work is characterized by site-specific, performative, and participatory formats in collaboration with so-called “everyday experts,” with a focus on space, ritual, memory, and transformation.

Ngoc Anh Nguyen is a Vietnamese-German singer, songwriter, and social worker from Berlin. Under the stage name ANOTHER NGUYEN, she releases empowering pop music and artistically explores themes such as identity, belonging, and cultural visibility.
In addition to her music, she is involved in projects such as the award-winning Vietnamese-German film project “Drehs Um” and performs on stage as a musician and actress in the play “Hörst du mich.” Together with Sony Music, she released “Du schaffst das schon / Cố lên con,” the first Vietnamese-German children’s song, thereby creating new visibility for Vietnamese-German children and families. As a family support worker, she also accompanies families in various life situations and incorporates these experiences into her artistic and social work. In 2023, she was a member of the Freiflächen jury at BERLIN GLOBAL.

Flor Fischer is literally a “child of the fall of the Wall”: born in the East and rooted in his family there, yet raised in the West, he learned early on to navigate both sides of the (former) Wall. Today, he enjoys planting seeds in its cracks, listening to the stories people tell about it, and trying to make sense of his own. He works as a freelance trainer, process facilitator, and author on discrimination, colonial continuities, racism, and whiteness, as well as on masculinity(ies).

Upcoming Dates

Wednesday, September 30, 2026, 6:30 p.m.
No Border Lasts Forever – Refugee Struggles in Times of a Shift to the Right
Reading and discussion

Friday, October 30, 2026, 6:30 p.m.
Never Again Unification: 100 Interjections on German Unity
Reading with Paula Fürstenberg

Thursday, November 12, 2026, 6:30 p.m.
1989 as a Mission: Missed Opportunities, New Perspectives
Discussion in cooperation with the Berlin Commissioner for Coming to Terms with the SED Dictatorship (BAB)

Further Information

- 5 EUR / reduced rate 3 EUR. Please book your ticket in advance online or at the box office in the foyer.
- Doors open at: 6:00 p.m.
- Ages 16 and up
- Language: German
- Berlin Exhibition, 1st floor, Hall 5, Berlin Room
Part of:Across Borders: Drawing, Tearing Down, and Shifting
- Belongs to:BERLIN GLOBAL