Jan 12–22, 2017
Utopian Realities
Jan 12–22, 2017
HAU Hebbel am Ufer
Theater cooperation Haus der Kulturen der Welt with HAU Hebbel am Ufer
In January 2017, close to the 100th anniversary of the 1917 Russian Revolutions, HKW invited HAU Hebbel am Ufer to investigate the topicality of the social and artistic developments that had been made possible for a few short years following that political transformation. This look back incorporates a look at the political form of today’s society as well. The aim is to survey our distance to the past in order to ascertain its position in the present. The beginnings of the Russian Revolution were not only ahead of their time, but also ahead of our own. Their aspirations and their reality are not only contemporary again, but also still of the future.
The political work, the texts, and the life of Alexandra Kollontai are the productive inspiration. The Soviet revolutionary and feminist made the body and sexuality a political issue and portrayed how capitalist society co-determines female identities.
Four productions will deal with the 1917 upheavals in both society and art and ask their specific questions of the material:
Together with the artist Vera Martynov, the Russian curator and critic Marina Davydova is developing a performance and installation parcours that will allow us to spatially experience the links between the political history of Russia and the present.
The Argentinian director Mariano Pensotti is putting on a play on the Russian Revolution and its artistic and political effects on modern Latin America.
Also using Kollontai’s feminist commitment as their theme, in their performance the Berlin-based New Zealand choreographer Simone Aughterlony and the American performer Jen Rosenblit will address current forms of feminist politics and life practices. The Croatian artist Vlatka Horvat’s first work for the stage is inspired by the works of Soviet artists who were forced into exile following the October Revolution. The fringe program will include contributions from the Berlin-based Lebanese actor, director and author Lina Majdalanie with a salon of feminist perspectives of the current situation in Lebanon.
The Dutch artist Jonas Staal developed an artistic intervention which comes from the current politcal crisis in Europe and brings toghether trans-democatic organisations with the aim to design alternative communities.
Utopian Realities is a co-production of HAU Hebbel am Ufer and Haus der Kulturen der Welt as part of 100 Years of Now, curated by HAU Hebbel am Ufer and funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
Utopian Realities is a co-production of HAU Hebbel am Ufer and Haus der Kulturen der Welt as part of 100 Years of Now, curated by HAU Hebbel am Ufer and funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
