by Fabio Gerhold
How does our experience shape our reality? And how does that reality spiral outward to construct our society and our institutions? The Glaciers and Tigers Podcast features educators, designers, community builders and artists who are shaping our world by creating and curating experiences.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
11/18/2025
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July 4, 2026
A four-year teacher training programme that uses the world as a classroom — from a bus trip through West Africa to communal life in Graz to a hundred-person community in Denmark. The Core Principles DNS (Necessary Teacher Training College) combines experience-based learning, communal living, and student-driven education. The programme grants an academically accredited diploma from a university in Mozambique — a deliberate choice that reflects its decolonial approach to knowledge and education. Year One: A 12-Metre Bus to Guinea-Bissau The first year begins with an extraordinary project: 13 students buy a public transit bus, convert it into a travelling home, and drive it through West Africa for four months. "You just start, without any specific knowledge," says Asia from Italy. "And then you learn how to cut wood, how to cut iron — things you'd never normally do." The route runs from Denmark through Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, and into Guinea-Bissau — with the intention of meeting people and understanding first-hand why the world looks the way it does. Year Two: European Reality in Graz In the second year, students experience Europe from a new angle — twelve people in a shared apartment, a shared economy, and jobs at McDonald's or Foodora. The programme is entirely student-funded: everyone earns, everything is pooled, and all decisions are made together. "I only worked at McDonald's for one month, but I saw things I didn't expect to go through. It shows me on a very different level how inhumane the capitalist system lets us treat each other." — Sarah Communal Life and Mutual Support Students share not just housing and income, but their daily lives. "I had a terrible day at work at McDonald's and I messaged the group — guys, can you please stay up until midnight because I'm coming home and I need support," Sarah recalls. "And people got up to support me afterwards." Eric from Catalonia also notices who actually works these jobs — people for whom McDonald's in Graz is a dream, a destination he first encountered in Africa. "That's a reality you can only fully grasp when you've actually been there." The Tvind Controversy DNS grew out of the Danish teacher movement Tvind, founded in 1972. In the 1980s, the community lost its government funding, followed by years of lawsuits and media reports of embezzlement and cult accusations. Sarah investigated before applying — going "undercover" for a volunteer week: "I arrived and found a very wholesome, green community with happy young people. And I started asking different students — have you heard about this? Can you leave? Do they have your money? And everyone was a bit disappointed." Damir explains the political context: the community's shared economy created a legal grey zone that was used as a pressure point — not because any lawsuit succeeded, but because constant litigation wore the founders down until they left the country. The DNS Campus in Denmark The programme's home is a self-governed community of around 100 people in the countryside, fifteen minutes by bicycle from the nearest town. Decisions are made by consensus democracy — 100% agreement, not a simple majority. Students take on responsibility for the garden, the windmill, bookkeeping, or event organisation, driven by their own interests. Teaching as Political Action "I think many of us believe that being a teacher is not an apolitical position," says Sarah. "If you're a teacher, you will be shaping the next generation." This runs through the whole programme: the McDonald's shifts, the communal life, the West Africa journey — all designed to prepare future teachers to navigate systems they can't change, and make a difference anyway. As Sarah puts it: "I am at McDonald's and McDonald's really want me to behave like all the other minimum wage workers who will just follow what is told and put up with bad treatment. And I am here trying out
June 19, 2026
Vocal Improvisation and Regenerative Music Jaka Škapin is a Slovenian vocalist, researcher, and facilitator currently based in London. A conversation about collective vocal improvisation, relationality, and the ancient technologies we keep forgetting. From Classical Choir to Vocal Improviser Jaka's musical journey moved in 5–7 year cycles: classical choir singing in Slovenia, music studies in London, and then a turn toward free vocal improvisation — sparked by a Facebook ad for a voice improvisation course. He went deep into the American tradition around Bobby McFerrin, studied with Meredith Monk and has since been weaving Slovenian folk singing traditions into his work. What Does "Sounding Good" Even Mean? How important is it to sound good during improvisation? In the communities Jaka works with, the operative word is relationality, not "good or bad". How does this music relate to oneself, to others in the space, to the more-than-human, to ancestors, to the land. Technical quality is not the point. The point is what opens up in the space between people. "In many cultures, there's no such thing as a word for improvisation — because it's not needed." The Anthropos Project Jaka is part of Anthropos, a vocal quartet that creates complete collective improvisations — nothing pre-planned, using only invented language (no spoken language of any member). The project aims for a pre-modern context for music-making: before music was a commodity, before it was a profession. Their debut recording Songs of Humanity happened in three hours, in the middle of the pandemic in July 2020. The project is also a technology for transcultural exchange — exploring how collective vocal improvisation can facilitate communication across diverse groups, including in dementia care settings. Developing a Language Through Other Bodies Since 2016, Jaka has worked with people with Parkinson's disease and dementia in various social settings. This, he says, was the real groundwork for how he improvises: "I had to sing in such a way that another body could express, or move, or kind of feel supported — feel like they can link with other bodies in the space, feel like they can open up and relate." He is also part of the The Well - Global Vocal Improvisation Network, which experiments with vocal improvisation as a transformative social tool, like for example in a recent experiment in Canada — making politicians sing and improvise together. Ancient Technologies The conversation turns to what Jaka calls the "technological spectrum" — and the importance of repositioning ancient or embodied practices alongside (not against) modern technology. Somatic and eco-somatic practices, he notes, are largely rooted in Indigenous knowledge — a lineage that needs to be named, not erased. "The right kind of technological emptiness can then mean that everything else does reorient itself in the way that is needed." A Note to Close On Jaka's closing invitation: you don't need a course, a workshop, or even a song. You need a moment in your day. Start with humming — to yourself, to someone in the room, or to your phone. It grows from there. Jaka Škapin — vocalist, facilitator, researcher. Based between Slovenia and London. Anthropos — collective improvised vocal quartet. Music played: Ote Taya Ko (Rising) — Anthropos, Songs of Humanity EP The Well.- Global Vocal Improvisation Network Hawkwood College Braziers Park
June 8, 2026
A conversation with Jing-Hong Okorn-Kuo, a dance artist from Singapore who splits her time between Asia and Gra, exploring the philosophy of creative vulnerability, the social conditions we must shed to make authentic art, and how movement can excavate the layers within simple gestures. Topics [00:00–02:00] Meeting through Movement: Jing Hong introduces her transnational practice and a recent "Makers Lab" workshop, where she provoked participants to "stop being nice to each other". [02:00–08:00] Shedding Social Conditions: The philosophy behind accessing the "not nice" aspects of ourselves in creative work. It is not about harming each other, but tapping into the full spectrum of human experience as artistic material while maintaining a professional framework. [08:00–15:00] From Singapore to New York to Everywhere: Jing Hong discusses her foundation learning ballet from her mother in Singapore, her studies in the US, a rough period in New York, and her five years living out of a backpack across Asia. She explains finding freedom in the theater community, where perfection is viewed as a reference point rather than an absolute physical demand. [15:00–21:00] Singapore as a Social Laboratory: An exploration of Singapore's highly sanitized, organized environment—where even nature is controlled and earth is considered dirty—and how this hyper-comfort can slowly numb an artist's physical sensibility. [21:00–25:00] The Boundaries of Dance: A philosophical inquiry into defining dance. Jing Hong notes that typical keywords for dance, like "clear form, precision, embodiment," could just as easily describe a Shakespearean actor, leading her to embrace a more open, individualized definition as she grows older. [25:00–29:48] Silver Lining and the Layers of Exile: Her current piece is based on a Singaporean play about WWII spirits. She focuses on a mother character to explore modern forms of exile—physical, political, and emotional—through movement that uncovers "10 gestures within this one gesture". Key Insights The Tiger in the Studio: Creative spaces require us to drop everyday politeness and safely welcome our dangerous, subconscious traits to fully utilize our life experiences as artistic material. Perfection as a Compass, Not a Cage: In contrast to the strict aesthetic expectations of traditional dance, theater treats perfection merely as a reference point, allowing artists to intentionally throw obstacles in their own path to discover new creative journeys. The Cost of Extreme Comfort: Singapore's hyper-modern, sanitized environment—where citizens are shielded from the sun, rain, and dirt—provides absolute ease but slowly numbs the senses, forcing artists to consciously fight to keep their awareness fresh. The Density of Slow Movement: Slowness in performance isn't always an aesthetic choice about speed; it can be a meticulous excavation of a simple movement, revealing up to ten microscopic gestures, emotional layers, and images within a single action like pointing a finger. Performance Info Silver Lining A solo exploration of exile through the lens of the WWII Pacific theater, from a Singaporean perspective. Location: Stadtpark Graz, Passamtswiese Dates: June 21 to July 1. Times: Every Sunday and Wednesday at 5:30 PM. Photo: Clara Wildberger
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How does our experience shape our reality? And how does that reality spiral outward to construct our society and our institutions?
The Glaciers and Tigers Podcast features educators, designers, community builders and artists who are shaping our world by creating and curating experiences.
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