The Space between The Letters :: Eva von Schweinitz :: a Performance Piece about Adult Literacy

The Space between The Letters

@what_eva_saw

Work-in-progress

Brianhurricano: 2018

A dot of light turns into a line, into a shape, into words. Writing becomes a physical, virtuosic feat. Easels swirl in an intersectional flipchart ballet that unpacks the legal, social, and political dimensions of adult literacy in the United States. In this ensemble lecture, performers weave personal stories, handmade infographics, and histories of discrimination and disenfranchisement. 

Created by Eva von Schweinitz in collaboration with the ensemble

Performances
Fall 2019 | Planned Premiere
Jan 5 + 10, 2019 | Incoming! Under the Radar Festival | The Public Theater
May 5 + 6, 2018 | JACK Brooklyn

Eva von Schweinitz explores “The Space between the Letters”

Extended Play: Civilians R&D In Process: 3.27.2018 by Eva Von Schweinitz

Eva von Schweinitz, the lead artist of "The Space between the Letters," discusses how her deep dive into adult literacy inspired her most recent work. Incorporating interviews and devising techniques, this project is being developed in the Civilians R&D Group.

In 2004, I came across a short newspaper clipping about an 84-year-old man, Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge, who decided to attend elementary school in Kenya after the government’s decision to offer universal and free education. This earned him a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest person to begin primary school. What fascinated me about the story was the simple, yet extremely powerful thought that it’s never too late for anything — and that we’re never done learning. The image of an 84-year-old sitting in the classroom among a bunch of children struck me as humorous, but even more so as a break with societal norms, a rebellion against assumptions about what is possible, an act of bravery.

Looking at the statistics for adult literacy in Germany at the time, I learned that the issue was also present in my own country, albeit extremely invisible. And it seemed nearly impossible to estimate an accurate statistical number, which fluctuated between 500,000 and 4 million people or between 0.75 percent and 6.3 percent of adults. I learned that many people who struggle with reading and writing are so overcome by feelings of shame and guilt that they put a lot of effort into hiding their condition, resulting in large numbers of unreported cases. I wondered what a life looks like spent in such silent survival.

Years later, after moving to and becoming a citizen of the United States, after working on projects that investigated aspects of homelessness in the streets of Brooklyn (“Reenvisioning the Homeless” 2013/2015) and child poverty in Germany (“All about Nothing” 2016), I am starting to artistically explore the subject of adult literacy in the U.S.

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My interest in the subject has continuously shifted and grown. As I approach it now, it has turned into an onion, its complexity rendered into layers and layers to be peeled and unpacked. At its center, I see the individual and their day-to-day reality. How do low literacy skills affect and shape a person’s life in regards to their job, health, finances, relationships, and day-to-day decisions? How do feelings of inadequacy factor into these decisions? Which strategies are employed to manage everyday life in a world that is dominated by written language?  READ MORE >>