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Who we are:
Common Ground is a student initiative focusing on supporting social art projects that foster collaboration between students, refugees, and disadvantaged internationals. Through these projects, Common Ground aims to break down internal institutional barriers and promote inclusivity. It fosters networking opportunities between the administration, students, initiatives, and artists who share similar interests.
At the core of Common Ground's mission is the belief that universities should be spaces free from fear, where experiences of exclusion are acknowledged and addressed without exception. Common Ground advocates for democratic principles, equality, tolerance, and actively opposes racism and discrimination. It promotes critical discourse and interaction among the university's diverse student body and members, striving to create an environment that values and respects all individuals equally.
What we do:
Common Ground’s members act as a consultant body for current and prospective students in areas like applying to UdK and students' concerns. Since 2020, Common Ground runs the Common Ground Studio (CGS), offering access to UdK Berlin’s Institute of Fine Arts for disadvantaged individuals. To learn more about the studio, please take a look at the respective section of the website.
Each year, the group organizes social art projects by, with, and for people who have experienced migration. Over the past nine years, these included exhibitions, performances, film screenings, music jam sessions, workshops, and reading groups, among others.
The support comes through establishing helpful contacts with students, artists, and other professionals, such as StuPa (Student Parliament), AStA (Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss), Studierendenberatung, the International Office, the Studium Generale and the Artist Training. The student initiative received funding from the DAAD and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the efforts of the International Office.
Contact:
Please follow our Instagram page for all updates and upcoming events:
instagram.com/commonground.udk
Consulting in person is possible on Tuesdays and Wednesdays,
but please write us an email to set the time (as we are students too).
Our office is at Bundesallee 1-12, 10719 Berlin
Room 161
Projects:
Untranslated Spaces
A series of community events organised by students, for students (as part of the Access Art Schools Berlin project). Each session is held in one of the three languages—Ukrainian, Arabic, and Persian—so that we can connect, reflect, and exchange ideas in our mother tongue.
Ukrainian:
#1 - Community meeting - 25 June 2025, 2–4 PM, HA33, Garden
https://www.instagram.com/p/DLAZHS_IY4F
#2 - Art Tour and Community meeting during Rundgang - 20 July 2025, 1–2 PM, HA33
https://www.instagram.com/p/DL9755mMx5i
#3 Online Infosession - 12 September 2025, 2–4 PM
https://www.instagram.com/p/DN8iSRXjBCs
#4 Welcome Week with the International Office - 8 October 2025, 4-5 PM
https://www.instagram.com/p/DPWq7DCjAsO
#5 Tour to Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin - 19 November 2025, 10:30 AM -1:30 PM
https://www.instagram.com/p/DRANmSYjA2n
#6 Tour to Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf - 20 November 2025, 10 AM - 1 PM
https://www.instagram.com/p/DRANmSYjA2n
#7 Community Meeting - 4 July 2026, 12 AM - 2 PM, HA33, Garden
https://www.instagram.com/commonground.udk/p/DaSI8oKMFv-
#8 Art Tour and Community meeting during Rundgang - 19 July 2026, 12PM-5PM, HA33
https://www.instagram.com/p/DalGlNpiH12
Arabic:
#1 25 June 2025, 2–4 PM, HA33, Garden
https://www.instagram.com/p/DLAZO1qoiDY
#2 Online Infosession
https://www.instagram.com/p/DN5v-UwiCI6
Persian:
#1 27 June 2025, 2–4 PM, HA33, Garden
https://www.instagram.com/p/DLAZTEnIY_G
#2 Art Tour and Community meeting during Rundgang, HA33
https://www.instagram.com/p/DL98AwhseYV
#3 Online Infosession
https://www.instagram.com/p/DN5vSK4CBo0
#4 Welcome Week with the International Office - 8 October 2025, 4-5 PM
https://www.instagram.com/p/DPZJREpDNi3
#5 Tour to Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin - 19 November 2025, 10:30 AM -1:30 PM
https://www.instagram.com/p/DRC3i7qDPjr
#6 Again in my Heart - Film Screening - 16 November 2025, 5:30 PM - Medienhaus UdK, Grünewaldstraße 2-5
https://www.instagram.com/p/DRJvxqeDAtv
#7 4 June 2026, 4-6 PM, A joint meeting with AStA TU, Zwille Café, TU Berlin
https://www.instagram.com/p/DY0DECzDDBQ
#8 Art Tour and Community meeting during Rundgang - 19 July 2026, 12PM-5PM, HA33
https://www.instagram.com/p/DalGlNpiH12
Our Space
In 2024, Common Ground launched ”Our Space” project, an in-person meeting series designed by and for students of UdK and published online as a podcast. This project emerges in response to recent challenges within our community, offering a platform for constructive dialogue and exploration. With a focus on fostering inclusivity and amplifying diverse perspectives, "Our Space" endeavours to cultivate an environment where every voice is valued and heard. Our debut episode delves into the nuanced topics of Equality & Equity, engaging listeners in a social experiment aimed at broadening understanding and promoting empathy. Featuring esteemed guest Alejandra Nieves Camacho, UdK's Diversity Manager, each installment of "Our Space" is meticulously crafted to inspire meaningful conversation and promote a culture of mutual respect. As a student-led initiative, Common Ground is dedicated to supporting and empowering both current and prospective members of the UdK community through meaningful discourse and advocacy.
Common Ground Presents
A series of events taken place in 2021-2022, seeking to explore the complexities of refugee and migrant experiences meshing with other troubling dimensions of individual and collective being. These events were curated by Lisa Hoffmann and Adela Lovric, members of the initiative Common Ground at the Berlin University of the Arts, in collaboration with Cinema Transtopia. This project contained of three rows of screenings + performances, dedicated to different topics, including:
Queer & Migrant Narratives (December 2021)
Addressing queer intersections.
2. Portents of Climate Displacement (January 2022)
Explore the complexities of refugee and migrant experiences meshing with other troubling dimensions of individual, collective, and planetary being.
3. Precarities of migrant work (March 2022)
Studying the struggles hidden in plain sight: from small but deeply alienating misunderstandings to brutal exploitation.
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