6 Steps to the Paradise
2022


This workshop invites participants to enter a liminal space to connect deeply with their senses and explore their relationship with their surroundings. It asks the question: Where is paradise? Or more personally, Where do I feel like I’m in paradise?  

The workshop seeks to gather and reflect upon the dreams of women who have fled from war—dreams that envision a better place, a utopia, or “paradise.” However, the concept of paradise in this project goes beyond its religious interpretations as a promised afterlife. Instead, it explores sensory connections to space and the imagination of an ideal environment. While religion often positions paradise as an "after-death" reward, this project questions whether such a notion suppresses the pursuit of a better life on earth. Here, paradise is reimagined as something tangible and tied to everyday sensory experiences.  

The workshop is a sensory investigation into how we relate to our environment. Its aim is to activate the dialogue between the body and its surroundings by stimulating imagination.  

By creating a tent within a classroom, I sought to transform the familiar setting, introducing a shift that encouraged participants to step out of their routines and into a space where they could feel safe and connected.  

The workshop unfolded in seven steps, each dedicated to one of the senses: to see, to touch, to hear, to smell, to taste, and finally, to *be.* During these sessions, participants reflected on how each sense connects to their personal “daily-paradise.”  Each participant was given a box to collect materials that resonated with their sensory experiences throughout the workshop. These materials were then used to create a final collage, representing their unique sensory vision of paradise.


The project was carried out as part of a language course offered by ‘Verein Das Kollektiv’ for immigrant women, in collaboration with the wonderful German teacher Radostina Illieva Kostadinova. Through the sensory journey, we worked to translate these experiences into German words, enabling participants to engage with the language in a deeply personal and meaningful way. This process fostered a unique connection between sensory exploration and linguistic expression.

Das Kollektiv
6 Schritte zum Paradise