Kampnagel Hamburg/Teatr Polski Bydgoszcz: Cabinet of Political Wonders by Ana Vujanović Polish premiere

On Friday and Saturday (9-10 October, 9 pm), the Opera Nova Chamber Music Hall in Bydgoszcz (ul. Marszałka Focha 5) will host the Polish premiere of a coproduction by Kampnagel Hamburg and Teatr Polski Bydgodszcz, Cabinet of Political Wonders by Ana Vujanović. An independent theoretician, researcher, writer, lecturer, curator and dramaturgy expert, Vujatović focuses on contemporary performative arts and culture, working as a dramaturge, co-author and co-creator of theatre and dance pieces, video projects and performances. The premiere will be presented as part of the Festival of New Dramaturgies.

About the show:

Life in the (neo)liberal world is based on the idea of per­sonal and polit­i­cal free­dom. How could we exist with­out them? But maybe they have noth­ing to do with an indi­vid­ual, per­sonal rights, and pro­pri­etor­ship? A team of artists, the­o­rists and cul­tural activists work­ing in Ser­bia and Ger­many offers no answers to these ques­tions, rather they invite us to a dis­cur­sive prac­tice in a staged cab­i­net of polit­i­cal won­ders. Here, influ­en­tial speeches of the 20th and 21st cen­turies expand the mean­ing of per­sonal and polit­i­cal free­dom. As a counter move­ment to the gen­eral trend of muse­u­mi­sa­tion of chore­og­ra­phy, this het­ero­topia con­trasts voices, bod­ies and images that would have been incom­pat­i­ble else­where. Who­ever enters is invited to pose undis­ci­plined questions. 

Ana Vujanović is one of the most impor­tant rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the con­tem­po­rary per­for­ma­tive arts in Europe. She is a researcher, drama­tist, author of books on social and polit­i­cal con­text of per­for­ma­tive arts, and the founder of the leg­endary Walk­ing The­ory collec­tive. She has coop­er­ated with, among oth­ers, Saša Asen­tić, Marta Popivoda, Bojana Cve­jić, and Eszter Sala­mon. This time, together with Saša Asen­tić and a group of co-workers, she invites the view­ers to visit a cab­i­net of polit­i­cal curiosi­ties that trans­late politi­cians? speeches into move­ment and into chore­og­ra­phy that becomes part of the instal­la­tion. They cre­ate a unique, unset­tling curios­ity parade, and a phan­tom show pre­sent­ing fig­ures from con­tem­po­rary his­tory and politics, thus giv­ing unpre­dictable power to the bor­ing speeches of well-known politicians.

TRAILER

direction, concept: Ana Vujanović

cast

conceptual cooperation: Saša Asentić, Siniša Ilić, Marta Popivoda, Ana Vujanović
dancers: Kristin Schaw Minges
contortionist: Santeri Koivisto
collaboration on choreography: Alexandre Achour
dramaturgy assistance: Heike Bröckerhoff
rehearsal manager: Olivera Kovacevic Crnjanski
video editing: Jelena Maksimovic
production assistance: Luisa Perrone
production manager: Alexandra Wellensiek

theater / producer: Kampnagel (Hamburg), Teatr Polski (Bydgoszcz)

country: Serbia/ Germany/ Poland

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