HIDDEN.STORIES

Exploring Gossip, Anonymity & Audio Performance
HIDDEN.STORIES is a series of sensory audio-performance workshops exploring the space between truth and fiction, gossip and storytelling. Inspired by our artistic research format Face.Less, each workshop was designed as a one-day artistic intervention with a focus on identity, anonymity, and expression beyond the visible.
Year
2023 – 2024
City
La Paz (BO), Leipzig (DE)
Format
Workshops
Participants
Students (ages 13–17)
Partners
Deutsche Schule Mariscal Braun (La Paz, BO) / Diderot Oberschule Leipzig (DE) / Helmholtz Oberschule Leipzig (DE)
Research Base
Face Less
Funders

Context

Each school hosted its own version of HIDDEN.STORIES, adapted to the specific age group, class dynamics, and spatial possibilities:

Deutsche Schule Mariscal Braun, La Paz, November 2023

With 11th-grade students at the Deutsche Schule Mariscal Braun, we explored how gossip reflects social structures and teenage dynamics. The students transformed personal and collective stories into an immersive audio installation, which was presented during the school’s Noche de Colores event—culminating in a live performance shaped and performed by the participants themselves.

Diderot Oberschule, Leipzig, January 2024

At Diderot Oberschule, a 10th-grade class developed a fog-filled audio installation based on stories whispered through school corridors. The workshop focused on themes of privacy, presence, and invisibility, inviting students to reflect on how rumors and social codes shape everyday interactions within their school environment.

Helmholtz Oberschule, Leipzig, March 2024

At Helmholtz Oberschule, 8th-grade students explored anonymous storytelling through movement, sound, and improvisation. Together, they created a performative video using their own recordings, combining body-based expression with audio fragments of stories they had overheard in the school setting. The result was a layered piece that blurred the line between fiction and lived experience.

Our approach

Each session combined performative methods with audio storytelling, collaborative writing, fog-based scenography, and embodied expression. Students reflected on what it means to be seen, heard, or misunderstood—and how gossip can become a tool for storytelling, connection, or resistance. Where does truth end and fiction begin? What counts as a lie, a joke, or just a misunderstood truth in today’s social landscape?

Outcomes & Impact

Each workshop ended in an ephemeral installation of voices, fog, and fictional truths. Students explored identity through indirect expression and developed confidence in presenting ideas creatively without exposure. Across three schools, the format proved to be a powerful tool for participation, reflection, and connection.

Special thanks

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