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FESTE FEIERN

Sandra Bringer / Carola Lehmann

Here in the country, there are festivals, music and things like that, but there is no designed theatrical presentation actually, in any way.

Festivities are enduring spaces of encounter between fantasy and daily life, between individual entertainment and the wider social politics of the region. The artist lab focuses on festivals in villages and small towns, examining how rightwing populism has moved into these spaces since the pandemic. The laboratory investigates traditional festivals along with the gatherings of the New Right, examining their component parts, and finding in the first-person experience, alongside food and drink, an opportunity for performative intervention.

"FESTE FEIERN" brings together six theater professionals of four east-German states. Numerous interviews with representatives from the art world and civil society shaped a broad artistic perspective. A festival in Neuendorf am See in Brandenburg was the test bed for sketch performances. The arist lab designed artistic formats with an awareness of real world conditions. The overarching theme being that with a constructive attitude, they could connect with an audience particularly susceptible to rightwing populism.

The laboratory sees itself as a network, and established the temporary "IInstitut für Festkultur" to include a range of perspectives. The Institute serves as a banner under which performers and activists, creators and co-creators, even town and country, can rally to make common cause.

Impressions

A woman attaches a red cloth to a wooden beam. © Birgit Möller
Five people are standing in a boat on a lake. © Birgit Möller
Six people sit or stand around a table and talk. © Carola Lehmann
A street full of people and police officers. A woman stands in front of the camera and draws attention to the people. © Diana Wesser
A woman and a man stand in front of a tractor and laugh. © Birgit Möller

More detailed documentation of the lab can be found behind the following keywords, which invite you to browse.

Participants

Sandra Bringer, Sarah Methner, Carola Lehmann, Fabian Rosonsky, Jule Torhorst & Diana Wesser (Artists), Christin Eckart (Production Management), Katja Kettner (Content Support), consulting experts: Karen Ascher (Illustrator, Artist), Kerstin Dathe (theaterlandschafft), Claudia Engel (flunkerproduktionen), Torsten Hahnel (miteinander e.V. Sachsen-Anhalt), Katharina Hindelang (Halle gegen Rechts e.V.), Micha Kranixfeld (Syndikat Gefährliche Liebschaften), Peng! Kollektiv (Political Activist Performance Collective), Juliane Meckert (Actress, Director, Mediator), Julia Raab (Puppeteer), Alf Thum (Front Deutscher Äpfel), Bernd Stracke (Institut B3 Löbau), Jacob Simon (Autonomes Kaspertheater Halle), Tucké Royale (Author, Director), Anna Stiede (Political Scientist, Performer) & Dörthe Ziemer (Editor, Communicator, Cournalist).

With thanks to Schloss Bröllin, Neu am See and the collective Eigenklang.