My Study Abroad experience: Phoebe Kaniewska
- Written byStudent communications
- Published date 21 October 2025
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Phoebe Kaniewska is studying BA Sculpture at Camberwell College of Arts. This summer she attended Universitat der Kunste (UdK) in Berlin for a summer school experience funded by UAL’s Arts Abroad Grant. Here she reports back on her trip.
How many theatre kids (aged 25-59) does it take to change a lightbulb, or in other words, social norms? If the Theatre for Social and Ecological Change course at Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK) is anything to go by, it took 8 of us, 2 teachers and 5 days.
It’s always fascinating walking into a room in a foreign city, knowing that a series of decisions and events led to that point. In my case it included a rejected application, an alternative offering and a final last-minute decision.
There are 7 others that had decided to walk into the same room. I am the youngest there, as other students are in their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. They too have made their own decisions to get here. We are all from different countries and made our own journeys here – some are commuting from their hometowns whilst other have flown to Berlin to be here. All of us have decided to embark on a course in an empty university building for a week.
We begin tentatively, with the usual group agreements, getting-to-know-you exercises, and name labelling. We each explain why we’re here, what we do, what we’d like to achieve. 5 days isn’t long, after all. What could possibly happen in such a short time?
Our teacher’s names are Karoline and Isabell. They are young, passionate and energetic artists; Karoline in theatre, and Isabell in ARTIVISM, which is using art to create socially engaged and critical performances. They both share their experiences and their work with us. Last year, Isabell created a satirical and shocking Adidas Paris Fashion Week Catwalk, which made headline media. They pretended to brand their models with hot iron, and highlighted the illegal, terrible working conditions of their employees. No one realised it was fake for 48 hours. Karoline had created a short film based on the stories of German teachers who were imprisoned for walking, eating and swimming alone. She acted in it herself, in a restrained and dignified way.
We were all in awe as they told us about their work. They both create art to highlight the need for change, not in theatre, but in the world.
The next day, we made a wall of rage, highlighting the things we are truly angry about.
“I’m angry my elderly neighbour died alone”.
“I’m so angry with people with privilege that call themselves apolitical”.
Our list is huge, and we feel powerful and full of wrath.
“This is good”, Karoline tells us. “Anger is powerful, and we grieve together”.
Slowly, across the course of the week, we find which subject touches us most at this moment in time. We find inspiration from historic and contemporary activism, theatre and performance. We go for lunch (Japanese, then Polish, then Korean) as a group, and learn more about each other. Many of us share similar interests, but our reasons for being there are all completely different. One student is there because his daughter is disabled, and he wants to create an inclusive disco for her and her friends. Another student is there because she’s recently been made redundant and wants some time to figure things out. We spend time writing notes which turn into drafts, which turn into rehearsals. We visit the Berlin Biennale together, full of socially engaged work from early career artists. It is raw, and powerful, displayed in a disused women’s prison.
By the end of the week, we have each made a performance. We are excited and eager to share our work with each other. Each piece is distinct. Whilst some are sincere and earnest, others are hilarious and utopian. Each is based on our own subsect of the many things we’d like to change. We’ve each developed a niche.
“We have to start somewhere, why not here?” Isabell tells us.
After our performances, we are each given a certificate and a rose. We hug each other, take photos, exchange details. Isabell and Karoline reveal they are sisters, which makes sense – they know each other well and teach together perfectly. We each travel back to our countries and cities and resume our daily lives. Miraculously, we had all created socially engaged performances. For most of us, who had never written a script before, we articulated our rage into a request; a request for connection, community – and for change.
The Arts Abroad programme runs each year during the summer. Applications for Summer 2026 will open in January. For more information, please see the Arts Abroad webpage or contact internationalmobility@arts.ac.uk.