Changing Stages
Doris Salcedo: Shibboleth, Tate Modern Gallery, London / Photo: REUTERS/Luke MacGregor
It was the last summer of a decade in which Pina Bausch died. The aftermath of the financial crisis sent people colliding at force into the rock of good faith. And once again, the signs pointed to cutbacks rather than new departures. Not in Bochum this time (where factory workers were made redundant), but in Oberhausen, Wuppertal, Moers and Essen (where the powers that be want to drive the theatre down to a minimum). Since then, the artists have been in turmoil and the cities in a state of emergency. After all, a city cannot simply be closed like a factory. The European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010 kicked off in January amid this disorientated and forbidding atmosphere. The Zollverein World Heritage Site lay beneath a thick cloak of snow.
The world had never seen the Ruhr region in this way before.
But the audiences didn't want to hear about bankruptcy - so much became clear during the first months of the year. They called for revolution, stemming themselves against the passage of time, because they understood that there are still other values besides shopping day and night. It may be that the towns and cities are shrinking, but the audiences are not. The theatres, museums and concert halls are full, as full as only the malls and multiplex cinemas usually are. That too is performance of a certain kind. The crisis is a productive state and the Capital of Culture is a lab for what will happen tomorrow somewhere in Europe.
When we began preparing the programme for the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010 three years ago, we experienced an almost propagandistic prevalence of the word "sustainability". As with the environmental problem, the bank problem and the art market problem, in the sphere of performing arts too the focus was on expansion, competition, location egotism and consumption. Today the salutary word defines any discussion of cultural strategy within the performing arts. But theatre and dance are arts of the moment that get lost in time. Sustainable aesthetics, a sustainable approach to culture – how can they be possible?
RUHR.2010 has invited international artists, curators and directors to develop innovative projects and new perspectives for the performing arts, together with the region's festivals, theatres, production companies and colleges. Many of the invited artists exploit the various forms of theatre in order to expand them into sculpture, video, animation, concerts, dance, happenings and everyday life. Traditional assignments of place and author are no longer possible. The areas of activity of artists, curators and local people overlap. Ensembles such as anschlaege.de (pottfiction), Rimini Protokoll (Landsmann Sein) and raumlaborberlin (Odyssey Europe) give a glimpse of the opportunities that are created when audiences are involved as "social subjects" in the artistic process.
The changes in a world characterised by migration and shifting allegiances and ties were explored on a broad scale in conjunction with the international Theater der Welt (Theatre of the World) festival and Odyssey Europe. For three weeks, the European Capital of Culture served as a stage for old masters and the young avant-garde of the international scene. Many of them live and work in transformation societies. Change is an important characteristic of their work. A festival like Theater der Welt is a huge learning experience for the host city. It pulls the city along, infects it with its agitated movements, makes it more open and more alert and challenges it to become a utopian unity of art and life. In discussing sustainable policy in the sphere of culture, we should simply have greater faith in the enduring power of ephemeral happenings and restless spirits.
"Changing stages" on 2010lab.tv:
Watch projects from "Changing stages" on 2010lab: 2010lab.tv followed the Theatre of the World festival, which transformed the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010 into a stage for the young avant-garde and old masters of the international scene from 30 June to 17 July. Also available to watch: the latest videos and reports on pottfiction, René Pollesch’s Ruhrtrilogy and Odyssey Europe.
Tune in at www.2010lab.tv/theater-wagen