Around 50 students from the University of Cologne and other German speaking theatre and performance studies institutes volunteered throughout the conference.
They looked after the delegates, event rooms and coffee breaks, acted as guides on campus and helped everybody with technical issues and advice. Above all, they also participated in the conference themselves. Browse through the volunteers' wide range of experiences and interactions, follow the creative reports about on their diverse conference impressions and vibrant throwbacks...
The team of the Theatre Collection owes its gratitude: It was a pleasure to work together!
DIVE IN…
IFTR 2025 as a Play!
Read the comedic play Jeanne and Ms. Muskatnuss by Jeanne Lopata.
Song: Welcome to the IFTR! I am a Volunteer, and I can serve you very wunderbar with your needs!
As volunteers at the IFTR 2025, we've had an inspiring and challenging time. Talking to and helping others can be difficult, given the language barriers and the wide range of needs of participants at a global congress. One challenge I faced during the IFTR was getting all the different needs under control without forgetting myself. In the song I produced, I try to discuss the different situations we encountered with humour, as well as the communication and material problems we faced. What might sound like a display of stereotypical accents and therefore a generalisation of cultural backgrounds is actually a dramaturgical tool that aims to embrace all our different backgrounds, needs and ways of 'being in the world', and clearly distinguishes itself from evaluative representation. Our diverse local and cultural backgrounds greatly enrich any scientific discussion. The IFTR has formed the basis of a framework to enable discussions across otherwise existing spatial and temporal barriers. These discussions, which would not otherwise be held in this format, demonstrate the potential of a international congress like this one. This is what made the IFTR so special and inspiring to me. I hope that all the participants and volunteers had an equally inspiring time at the IFTR 2025, and I hope to enrich the memory, which often fades quickly, with a tune and maybe a smile.
by Vincent Heyme
What type of volunteer are you? Take the quiz!
This interactive text adventure invites you to step into the role of a volunteer at the IFTR conference and explore typical situations volunteers faced. With each decision you shape your final personality profile. Discover what kind of IFTR volunteer you truly are!
by Lilli Fischer
...and much more
More moments from the conference
We also thank our student teams supporting the exhibition Hall of Fools - Hall of Fame, as well as the social media and podcast production!
You can check out the social media team's work on Instagram and Facebook.
Listen to “Carnival Unmasked - IFTR goes Cologne” on Soundcloud and anywhere you get your podcasts!